The upcoming visit to the White House on St. Patrick's Day by Taoiseach Micheál Martin could end up being, well, take your pick.
There has been considerable debate and argument in Ireland over the visit.
Opponents of it cite a range of issues from Greenland to Gaza.
But the very issues that opponents raise as a reason to stay away are also the issues that supporters of the visit are pointing to as a justification for Martin to travel.
Ireland has a voice in this world, in recent years a more forceful one, and the Trump administration should be allowed an opportunity to hear it.
Now there is no telling how the meeting will proceed.
The presentation of the traditional bowl of shamrock should proceed smoothly with smiles all around.
But the post-presentation conversation could go any which way.
The way it goes will mostly depend on the host, President Trump.
Trump likes to dominate meetings. He likes to talk.
The nature of the talk is hard to predict.
One thing that must be hoped for is that the president is in a receptive mood and that the taoiseach is intent on avoiding some of the cringe-inducing aspects of last year's encounter.
Mr. Martin will not only be representing Ireland.
He will be in the Oval office the head of an EU government but also one that will be taking over the presidency of the bloc in the second half of this year.
So the meeting has far more in it and about it than just warm fuzzies over the shamrock.
It is to be hoped that Mr. Martin will raise, again, the plight of the undocumented Irish and any and all Irish citizens being detained by ICE on the saint's day.
And then there is Gaza, Ukraine, Greenland, tariffs and more.
There is the matter of the International Fund for Ireland and the United States seemingly walking away from its years of financial support.
There is also the matter of the air we breathe. President Trump has gutted laws designed to curb greenhouse gases.
Mr. Martin might remind the president that the prevailing winds over the Atlantic are west to east and that golfers playing Trump's Doonbeg course in County Clare might be breathing in more than the anticipated fresh Irish air.
And the two leaders can certainly seek easy ground in discussing the Irish Open at Doonbeg later this year and Trump's expected visit.
So there is much to discuss, some things to agree upon, some matters that will likely produce disagreement.
That's what political meetings typically do.
At the end of it all the meeting will be two men who lead countries that are on friendly terms, historically very friendly terms.
This being the 250th anniversary of the American Republic Mr. Martin would do well to remain the American president that America would be in large part unrecognizable without the contribution and sacrifices of countless Irish over the two-and-a-half centuries of American independence.
So the meeting going ahead is the right idea. But it has to be on a more equitable and productive level than was the case last year.
America might be big and Ireland small, but neither has a monopoly on good or right ideas.
