A prominent Chicago businessman and Republican Party fund-raiser, Mr James Kenny, is to be nominated by President Bush as US ambassador to Ireland, the White House announced last night.
Mr Kenny, vice-president of Kenny Construction Company and president of Kenny Management Services, has been in line for the nomination since January.
The post was left vacant by the retirement of outgoing ambassador Mr Richard Egan in December. The nomination will go before a Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee for approval, a process that could take several weeks.
Mr Kenny was the Bush campaign chairman for Illinois in the 2000 election and has been taking a leading role in the 2004 Bush Illinois campaign.
In May, two senior Democratic senators, Mr Edward Kennedy and Mr Christopher Dodd, complained to Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell that people in Ireland felt "slighted" by the delay in nominating a successor to Mr Egan. "The active presence of a US ambassador in Dublin is an indispensable symbol and essential part of the close relationship between the two countries."
The White House statement said: "The President intends to nominate James Casey Kenny of Illinois to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland." Mr Kenny currently serves on the Illinois First Task Force, appointed by Illinois Governor George Ryan to combat terrorism, and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.
Mr Kenny sits on the boards of directors for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Bradley University, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Illinois Business Roundtable.
He has not been prominent at Irish-related events in Chicago.