THE NEW US Ambassador to Ireland will be sworn into office today at a ceremony in Washington DC.
Vice President Joe Biden will swear in Kevin O’Malley, an Irish-American lawyer.
Later today the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, who is attending the ceremony, will meet with the Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.
US visit
Flanagan’s US visit will focus on Northern Ireland, immigration reform, and Ireland-US economic links.
With British and Irish Governments becoming directly involved in convening all-party talks in Northern Ireland in the coming weeks, Flanagan said his visit is an important and timely opportunity to engage with the US Administration and with Irish-American supporters of the Northern Ireland peace process.
“US support and engagement remains critical to sustaining the peace in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“In my meeting with Vice-President Biden, I will convey the best wishes of the Government and people of Ireland to Ambassador O’Malley as he takes up his important position.”
Business
While on his visit to the US, Flanagan will also meet with the US Chamber of Commerce to update them on Ireland’s economic recovery, the support for Irish companies which are exporting to the US and about attracting investment to Ireland.
Minister Flanagan will launch a series of events being held to commemorate the 90th anniversary, including a free open-air concert of traditional Irish music and dance on at Washington’s Dupont Circle and a historical seminar on the first decades of Irish diplomacy in America.
Ireland-US diplomatic relations began on 7 October 1924 when Professor Timothy A. Smiddy presented his credentials as Ambassador (Minister Plenipotentiary) of the Irish Free State to President Coolidge.
Smiddy was a University College Cork economics professor and close friend of Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. The US was the first country with which the Irish Free State opened diplomatic relations.
He was also an economic adviser to the Treaty delegation in London in 1921.
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