US ambassador to present credentials

The new US Ambassador to Ireland Kevin O'Malley will present his credentials to President Higgins today.

The Missouri lawyer will be one of three new ambassadors to be presented to the President at Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon.

Mr O’Malley has strong Irish roots with all four of his grandparents being born in Westport, Co Mayo. He has been a regular visitor to Ireland over the years. He will be joined during his term in Ireland by his wife Dena. The couple have two sons, Brendan and Ryan.

Meanwhile, there was growing speculation that the former US senator and presidential hopeful Gary Hart will be appointed by President Barack Obama as a special envoy to Ireland in the coming weeks.

Mr Hart, who is close to US vice president Joe Biden and secretary of state, John Kerry, travelled to Ireland in August to establish the extent of the stalemate in Northern Ireland.

He met politicians in Belfast as well as representatives of the Irish and British governments during his visit.

Engagement in North

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Charlie Flanagan

said recently during a visit to Washington that he would like to see a “greater level of engagement” by the US in the North.

After attending Mr O’Malley’s official swearing-in by Mr Biden, Mr Flanagan said that a “level of oversight” from the US was important for the Northern Ireland talks, which have been reconvened by the British government.

“The important thing is that there is a level of engagement to help and support and facilitate the parties in issues that they have found impossible to date to deal with,” the Minister said.

Mr Flanagan yesterday met the Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers at Iveagh House in Dublin to discuss the ongoing problems in the North. The meeting came as it emerged the British government has established a panel of experts to examine a long-standing parading dispute in Belfast.

The announcement by Ms Villiers came in response to calls from a coalition of unionist and loyalist politicians and Orange Order leaders to set up a commission of inquiry into the impasse at the Woodvale-Ardoyne interface in the north of the city.

Parades Commission

The Parades Commission has prevented Orangemen from parading past the nationalist Ardoyne neighbourhood at the conclusion of the traditional Twelfth of July demonstrations for the past two years.

While there was no trouble this summer, last year loyalists rioted for a number of successive nights after the procession was stopped.

Unionist leaders had indicated that Ms Villiers’s response to their demand would impact on how they engaged with wider political talks planned by the Government to address disputes over flags, parades and the past, and to tackle a Stormont budget crisis.

But nationalists and republicans had voiced strong opposition to the suggestion of a commission of inquiry, insisting it would undermine the authority of the Government-appointed Parades Commission.