A recent statement from Obama’s campaign had suggested that an Obama administration would study the continued need for an envoy and consult with prominent political figures, including the Taoiseach and British Prime Minister, on whether or not to appoint an individual who would succeed the current Bush administration envoy, Paula Dobriansky.
As apparent concern among Irish American supporters of the Democratic White House candidate mounted, the Obama campaign announced the appointment of a panel of senior Irish American political advisors including George Mitchell, the original envoy and the man who steered the Good Friday agreement to fruition.
It was this panel, which also includes Senators Edward Kennedy, Chris Dodd and Patrick Leahy, Congressmen Richard Neal and Joe Crowley, and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, that was in part the wellspring for the envoy announcement Wednesday.
A statement from the Obama campaign out of Chicago stressed that an Obama presidency would be fully engaged on a peace process that has lately been affected by rising political uncertainty.
“Senator Obama has long said that, if elected President, he intends to invest the full weight of his office in the vital Irish peace process,” the statement said.
“After consultations with the members of his senior panel of advisers on Irish issues and informal soundings with British and Irish officials, Senator Obama has said that if he becomes President, he will appoint a senior envoy to Ireland who will build on the groundbreaking achievements of the Clinton Administration and help bring the historic process to final fruition,” Wendy Morigi, Obama’s national security spokesperson, said.