Egan looks set for Ireland

By Susan Garraty and Ray O’Hanlon

Washington D.C. — After an extraordinary week in which his ambassadorial prospects appeared to both soar and nosedive, Richard J. Egan now looks set to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.

Egan testified Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.

Not since William FitzGerald appeared before the same committee nine years ago and fluffed his lines had there been such a question mark over the nominee for the Phoenix Park.

Egan’s qualifications for the job were openly questioned in recent days by Senator Edward Kennedy and his fellow Senate members Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, who chairs the foreign relations panel.

Egan made an early visit to Washington last Friday to sit down with Kennedy. The meeting apparently went well and Kennedy expressed enthusiasm for Egan.

But Kennedy still held back from openly endorsing Egan for the ambassadorship at a time when the Dublin posting is being viewed as especially important in the context of the troubled Northern Ireland peace process.

Though he is not a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, which is controlled by the Democrats, Kennedy’s backing was viewed as essential for Egan’s prospects.

Still, Kennedy had not closed the door and another potential impediment to confirmation had also lifted after Egan agreed to pay a fine of $36,700 to the U.S. government as a result of his exceeding federal limits on campaign contributions.

The fine effectively ended a probe into Egan’s recent campaign contributions which had been initiated by the Federal Election Commission and which had put a hold on his appearance before Biden’s committee.

But Egan’s prospects were to dip again over the weekend with revelations in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald that Egan’s corporate resume, which seemed to imply combat experience with the Marines in the Korean War, was at best misleading and had been clearly misread in recent months by more than one media outlet.

Egan, it turned out, had not seen active service in Korea and indeed, as an 18-year-old, had been court-martialed by the Marine Corps after being involved in a car theft and joyriding incident near his base in Memphis, Tenn.

Egan served a six month term of confinement and was reduced in rank to private as a result. But he nevertheless received an honorable discharge from the Marines.

The White House stood by its man despite the revelations. "Dick Egan was a young 18 year old serving his country when he made a mistake," said White House spokesman, Sean McCormick. "He served his time."

Egan now appears set to serve diplomatic time in Ireland with the Foreign Relations Committee poised to vote on his nomination Thursday and the full Senate expected to vote on Friday.

"I intend to support Mr Egan’s nomination," Kennedy said in a statement.

"The position of Ambassador to Ireland is extraordinarily important, and I believe Mr. Egan will do an effective job. In his confirmation hearing this morning, he demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing the peace process in Northern Ireland. I look forward to working with him to achieve that vital goal," Kennedy said.

Egan’s wife, Maureen Egan, also attended the hearing along with four of the couple’s five grown children and assorted spouses. She said afterwards that she looking forward to moving into the Phoenix Park residence.

"We hope to get there by the end of the summer," Mrs. Egan, whose full name is Maureen Elizabeth O’Sullivan Fitzgerald Egan, told reporters.

"My mother was from Cape Clear and we’ve been back to see the farm she grew up on that’s still there," she added, beaming.

Tuesday’s hearing, though generally somber in tone, was not without its lighter moments. 79-year-old Senator Jesse Helms had some advice for the 65-year-old nominee.

"Now, when you get over there, I want you to call a good friend of mine, a man that knows the bible, a man I’ve gotten to know and respect," Helms said.

"His name is Bono," the senator said. "And you invite him down to see you as soon as you get there because he’s come to visit me often, and I’ve gotten to know him, and he’s a real fine guy."

In advance of any encounter with the U2 singer Egan will be attending to other business in addition to packing bags. He plans to sell off more than $1 million worth of stock he holds in Irish companies to avoid any potential conflict of interest, according to a report in the Sunday Independent.

He will also step down from his EMC board post to avoid similar potential conflicts of interest in relation to EMC’s operation in Ireland.

EMC, a multinational computer data storage producer estimated in value at roughly $9 billion, employs over 1,600 people in Ovens, Co. Cork, and has a sales presence in Dublin.