Ireland
The official state car in Ireland is a 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. Douglas Hyde, the first president of Ireland was provided with a state car, but his severe stroke early into his term of office meant that he rarely travelled in public. When he retired in 1945 the Irish state decided that his successor needed a state vehicle for formal occasions.
The daily transport of the president of Ireland and the Taoiseach (prime minister) are Mercedes Benz S-Class. The vehicles are driven by armed Gardaí (special branch police force). The Taoiseach and his Government Ministers usually sit in the passenger seat of their official cars. The presidential motorcade is led by a Garda patrol car, then the presidential limo with Irish flag and State Harp flag followed by one or two unmarked Garda cars usually BMW 5 Series. The presidential fleet also includes an Audi A6 and a Volvo S80. The Garda Traffic Corps also provide motorcycle escort around the motorcade. When the President or Taoiseach visit Northern Ireland they are driven in bulletproof SUVs.
Read more about this topic: Official State Car
Famous quotes containing the word ireland:
“There is no topic ... more soporific and generally boring than the topic of Ireland as Ireland, as a nation.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“In Ireland they try to make a cat cleanly by rubbing its nose in its own filth. Mr. Joyce has tried the same treatment on the human subject. I hope it may prove successful.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Come, fix upon me that accusing eye.
I thirst for accusation. All that was sung.
All that was said in Ireland is a lie
Breed out of the contagion of the throng,
Saving the rhyme rats hear before they die.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)