LATEST: OBAMA AND GATES MEETING FOR A PINT THURSDAY AT WHITE HOUSE: CLICK HERE

OBAMA REACHED CAMBRIDGE COP CROWLEY AT IRISH PUB: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: WHY GUINNESS WOULD BE GOOD FOR OBAMA, GATES AND CROWLEY: CLICK HERE

PROF. HENRY GATES IS HALF-IRISH AND RELATED TO THE COP WHO ARRESTED HIM: CLICK HERE

MEET GATES' IRISH ANCESTOR, WARLORD KING NIALL OF THE NINE HOSTAGES: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: OBAMA WRONG ABOUT INCIDENT BETWEEN BLACK SCHOLAR AND IRISH COP: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: OBAMA NEEDS TO STICK TO 'JUST THE FACTS, MAAM': CLICK HERE

When President Obama meets Sergeant James Crowley and Professor Gates at the White House for that famous beer there should be no contest what they decide to drink.

A pint of Guinness in celebration of their shared ethnic heritage would be perfect.

After all, Crowley was in an Irish pub when Obama called him on Friday, making it a perfect talking point when they meet.

Obama and Gates have Irish roots; Obama in County Offaly, and Gates, as he revealed on PBS, is descended from Irish chieftain Niall of the Nine Hostages.

What better drink to down given the fact that this is an issue about black and white to begin with?

The great Irish writer Flann O'Brien used to say that the solution to all problems was a "pint of plain" as he referred to Guinness.

His phrase "A pint of plain is your only man" has become famous down through the years and you will hear it quoted in many a pub in Ireland.

In this instance a pint of plain might well help settle the differences between the three men when they finally sit down in the White House. Perhaps they could recite the Flann O'Brien mantra together;

When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A Pint of plain is your only man!