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Jan 29, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Could Dan Rooney Be Ambassador to Ireland?
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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Barack Obama received support from Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney while on the campaign trail. (File)
KDKA
The
Irish Times in Dublin is reporting that Steelers chairman Dan Rooney heads the list to become Ambassador to Ireland, speculation repeated in the
Irish Echo.
In an
exclusive interview with KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano on January 17, Rooney acknowledged he was open to the idea, if President Obama asked him.
"I like him, I know what he's doing and I want to support him. What I'm talking about is his administration. I'd do anything that he asked," Rooney told Delano.
Rooney was clear that -- while he didn't back Obama expecting anything -- he was open to doing whatever the president wanted.
"I did not do this with the idea of getting anything. I'm not looking for anything. if he thinks I can help him anywhere, if he calls me, obviously, I'm going to say that I'll do anything I can for you, and I would," Rooney repeated. "It would be an honor to work for him, you know."
Dublin-born Anne Mullin Burnham -- founding editor of the Diplomatic Dossier Magazine -- thinks Rooney would be a terrific choice.
"I think it would be an inspired appointment from the point of view of both countries. Every country that welcomes a U.S. ambassador wants to have somebody with that magic thing called access."
Jim Lamb, president of the Ireland Institute, says Rooney is helped by his close ties to Ireland.
"Mr. Rooney has done so much for Ireland that he would be in my estimation the ideal person."
Rooney co-founded the American-Ireland Fund, gives scholarships to Irish students, awards the Rooney Prize for literature in Ireland, and co-founded the Ireland Institute to resolve Irish conflicts.
"So he really has a bit of diplomat in him?"
"No question. He would have to," says Lamb
Jon Delano asked Rooney the question directly, "Would you like to be ambassador to Ireland."
"It would be interesting. It would be interesting, I must admit," Rooney acknowledged.
"You have all the right credentials."
"I have the credentials. There's no doubt about that," he responded.
So will Rooney get the nod from the president?
No comment tonight from either the White House or the State Department.
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