The new ambassador to Ireland, Mr Michael Sullivan, was sworn in yesterday evening by the Acting Secretary of State, Mr Stuart Eizenstat, in the Executive Office Building off the White House.
The US Vice-President, Mr Al Gore, could not conduct the ceremony because his father, former Senator Albert Gore, was buried yesterday. In a tribute to the former Governor of Wyoming, Mr Eizenstat said that Mr Sullivan "reaches out to people of all types and social backgrounds . . . He will work with Northern Ireland parties as they implement the Good Friday Agreement. He knows what really matters to people, that transcends the borders of the United States. He is a seasoned lawyer and will oversee the peace process".
The Acting Secretary of State said the 40 million Americans of Irish descent had been honoured by the appointment of Mr Sullivan, whose ancestors came from Longford and Wexford.
Mr Sullivan described becoming ambassador to Ireland a "trial by fire in getting here . . . This is a momentous occasion in our lives."
He noted that he was the 25th Representative of the United States to Ireland and said he was mindful of the responsibility that accompanies the position "at this momentous occasion in history".
Among the attendance were Congressmen Benjamin Gilman, Richie Neal, Jim Steinberg, of the President's National Security Staff, Jim Lyons, the President's economic adviser on Northern Ireland, Ms Trina Vargo, of the US-Ireland Alliance, Mr Paul and Tom Quinn of the American Ireland Fund, Mr Bruce Morrison, Mr Harold Ickes of the president's White House staff, Mr Kingsley Aikers, Director of the American Ireland Fund, Ms Liz O'Donnell, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Sean O hUiginn, Ireland's ambassador to the United States, Mr Dermot Gallagher, Second Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who came from Dublin for the occasion, Ms Rita O'Hare, Sinn Fein representative in the United States, Lord Alderdice and former Wyoming senator Mr Alan Simpson.