February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
And Secretary Clinton does not have any plans to visit Ireland in the immediate future, though she did say during the recent swearing in of U.S. ambassador Ireland, Dan Rooney, that she looked forward to going there eventually.
State Department officials have said Secretary Clinton will remain “active on Northern Ireland.”
When an envoy is eventually appointed – and such a move is still expected – it is widely anticipated that the envoy will report directly to Clinton as opposed to the White House. Officials, however, said there is no movement at this time on appointing anyone to be special envoy.
Meanwhile, the possibility of a separate U.S. economic envoy to the North remains a consideration.
In her book “Living History,” Clinton wrote: “Of all the places we visited during the eight years of Bill’s Presidency, none was more invigorating and inspiring than Ireland.”
During her husband’s White House tenure, Clinton visited Ireland six times and as a senator from New York she met with many leaders from both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
Her interest in Irish affairs continued when she became secretary of state in the Obama administration. Most recently, she met with several Irish and Northern Irish political leaders during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington.