It is fair to say that US President Joe Biden's Irish visit had ruffled feathers among the British establishment. This had shown itself in some very negative media coverage.
It is important to say that the reaction in Britain was generally positive.
There was saturation live coverage on Sky and BBC News channels of Mr Biden’s visit south of the border and many Irish commentators were brought on to explain the significance of the occasion and Ireland's relationship with the US.
BBC Radio Five Live held a special programme on what it means to be Irish or have Irish ancestry. Among the contributors were former Irish soccer international John Aldridge and Mike Joyce, former member of the band The Smiths.
There were many callers and few of them negative.
However, it is also true that many ordinary British people find it hard to understand why someone like President Biden would claim ancestry from five generations past.
And then there are the political implications of Mr Biden's Irish sympathies in the context of Brexit and the impasse in Northern Ireland.
This caused a lot of concern in the British right-wing press.
The Times carried a cartoon of the US President dressed as a dancing leprechaun with a pint of Guinness in hand, which many on Twitter condemned as being reminiscent of the 19th century, anti-Irish Punch cartoons.
The Times along with The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail all gave their readers a list of previous quotes by Mr Biden purporting him to show a bias against Britain.
There was his opposition to an extradition treaty with Britain in the 1980s, his jokes about not wearing orange or not talking to the BBC because he is Irish.
A White House spokesperson felt it necessary to deny a claim by former DUP leader Arlene Foster that President Biden "hates the United Kingdom".
But every utterance and even the most minute details of his visit were scrutinised for evidence of anti-Britishness.
In fact, Ms Foster speaking on GB News said because Mr Biden's car flew Irish tricolours while in the Republic of Ireland but failed to fly Union Jacks in Northern Ireland, this was evidence of a "snub" to the UK.
Then there was the his statement about beating the Black and Tans in rugby.
A verbal gaffe by US President Joe Biden in Dundalk has been acknowledged and corrected in the official White House transcript of his remarks.
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 13, 2023
Mr Biden said his cousin, former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney, 'beat the hell out of the Black and Tans' | https://t.co/kf5C0Ji5RD pic.twitter.com/kRUpllwEpG
In Ireland it was taken as a simple gaffe but the Daily Mail saw something more ominous with a story under the headline: "Can You Still Deny You Are Anti British Mr Biden?"
Also President Biden told reporters in the US that he was hoping to "keep the peace" on his visit to Northern Ireland.
That might seem innocuous to some but not to the Daily Telegraph’s political editor who wrote that these were comments "which only served to raise the hackles of unionists who accuse him of siding with republicans pushing for the reunification of Ireland".
The same paper ran an opinion piece which described President Biden as "the bumbling US leader who sticks two fingers up at our country".
One has to remind oneself that the right-wing British press can get aggressive with a lot of people.
Biden's 'Bi-latte' meeting
However there is no doubt that the meeting in Belfast between President Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was polite rather than warm.
There were also differences in the briefings given to journalists.
The British side described it as a bilateral meeting while the United States said it was just a cup of coffee.
This led to the meeting being described as a "bi-latte" in the British press.
Nearly every report of President Biden’s visit in Britain contained the line that he spent just 17 hours in Northern Ireland and half of that asleep.
However many others pointed out that he probably would have spent more time in Northern Ireland if the Stormont Executive had been up and running.
He is also not attending King Charles’ coronation but it had also been pointed out the US president did not attend Queen Elizabeth II’s.
Britain has its own claim to a special relationship with the US which is of course a former colony that speaks its language.
And many of its citizens claim British ancestry.
British politicians and commentators have in the past been fond of talking up the "special relationship" with the US.
This was especially true during the time of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher or George W Bush and Tony Blair.
SDLP MP Claire Hanna said there is a "bemusement" among the British people about the extent of the relationship between Ireland and America, which she likened to sibling rivalry.
"They don’t understand the depth and the warmth of the relationship between Ireland and America. It is a bit like someone wondering ‘why does everyone like my brother or sister more than me’. It’s not anti-British, there is just more of an emotional connection."
The reaction in some British quarters had certainly been emotional.
Nick Timothy, who was Theresa May’s joint chief of staff, wrote an opinion piece in The Daily Telegraph entitled, "Britain needs to stop fawning over the one-sided ‘special relationship’".
He said the problem was more than just President Biden who he described as "strident, hostile and ignorant".
Referring to a lack of a new trade deal with the US, he wrote "with Brexit, when we expected support from our cherished ally, none arrived".
There is no doubt that some right-wing Tories are feeling pretty "miffed" about that special relationship.
