Irish president to visit school to see Gaelic football

SEATTLE — Ireland’s President Michael Higgins plans to visit a school and Microsoft on Thursday.

KING-TV reports Higgins met with Seattle Mayor Ed Murray after arriving Wednesday. Murray is the grandchild of Irish immigrants.

Higgins spoke at City Hall about relationships between the people of the United States and Ireland. He talked about Microsoft’s recent announcement about job creation at a new integrated campus near Dublin. The deal is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs there.

Ireland buys a lot of Washington’s products: ranking 28th when it comes to purchasing things like Boeing airplanes and 15th for service exports like software.

The Irish president will tour Sammamish’s Skyline High School, where Gaelic football is played. He will spend time at Microsoft’s Redmond campus and will be greeted by members of Seattle’s Irish community at McCaw Hall.

After leaving Seattle on Saturday, he is scheduled to travel to California.