Intelligencer

New U.S. Ambassador Appointed

MICHAEL Collins, who has been second secretary at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, will be the new Irish ambassador to the U.S. Collins has been the person with responsibility in the taoiseach’s (prime minister’s) office for Northern Ireland.

The Collins appointment will be broadly welcomed. He replaces the popular Noel Fahey, who will be taking over as Ireland’s man at the Vatican.

Fahey did an excellent job on issues such as Northern Ireland and educating key members of Congress on that issue, and the problems of the Irish undocumented.

Collins was previously ambassador to the Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia and has two previous stints in the U.S. at the embassy in Washington and in the New York consulate.

The American postings means that Collins has an in-depth knowledge of Irish American issues and, indeed, is very adept at media relations. On the first of those U.S. appointments he was press secretary for the government in the U.S.

Collins has also enjoyed a close working relationship with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, which will obviously be important if Ahern is returned to power after the upcoming election.

Other diplomatic changes see Ireland’s UN Ambassador David Cooney moving to London, where he will replace former New York Consul General Daithi O’Ceallaigh, who becomes ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

New Consul in New York

MEANWHILE, the appointment of the new consul general in New York with ambassadorial rank has also been made. Niall Burgess will replace the irrepressible Tim O’Connor, who is going back to Ireland to head the secretariat at Aras an Uachtarain, working directly with President Mary McAleese.

Burgess, a Dublin native, has previously worked in Chicago as well as with the International Fund for Ireland, the cross border body set up in conjunction with the peace process by the U.S., Irish and British governments.

Burgess also served with former Foreign Minster Dick Spring and on European Union affairs, so he has a broad range of experience.

Burgess, who is in his early 40s, will be one of the youngest occupants of the job at a time when it is clear that O’Connor has established new benchmarks in terms of what it is possible to achieve in New York.

Indeed, a compelling case for a much larger consulate operation in New York has surely been made these past few years. On the arts and culture side alone, the growth in Irish activity has been incredible. That, along with business and community expansion, has meant that an entirely new dynamic has been established.

McAleese for NYC

SPEAKING of O’Connor, one of the first tasks he will have is planning for a visit to New York by President Mary McAleese which will take place in early May.

During her visit here McAleese is expected to take a trip to Woodlawn and meet with members of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, who will doubtless give a great welcome to one of Ireland’s most popular political figures.

McAleese has been a frequent visitor to America but has not been involved much in the current issue of the Irish undocumented. That seems like it is about to change.

All Change In the North

IF you want to know how much things have changed in Northern Ireland you need only see the newspaper articles covering the election which is being held on Wednesday, March 7.

The Times of London puts it well. Their recent editorial entitled “Butter, Not Guns” refers to the fact that bread and butter issues and not paramilitary violence has become the major theme.

“The character of this contest is captured by the fact that the principal issue to emerge is water. The government plans to introduce a new system of water charges in Ulster as of next month and it has managed to unite all parties and the public alike in opposition to this initiative.

“Mr. Paisley has made obtaining a financial package which would allow the new Assembly to ‘deal with this matter’ (in effect, scrap the charges) his ‘precondition for the return of devolution.’”

Hmm, how about that. Paisley is threatening to stop the power-sharing government not because he won’t serve with Sinn Fein but because of water charges!

It is a stunning turnaround when you think of the bitterness of battles past, all to do with the constitutional issue.

Paisley gave further evidence of the current changed atmosphere in an op ed piece in the Irish News when he spent a few paragraphs railing against the water charges, when years ago it would have all been hellfire and damnation on Ulster’s enemies.

Little wonder that this election has been called boring by more than one commentator. The reality, however, is that boring is good when it comes to the North. They may no longer live in interesting times, but that’s good news for everyone as it turns out.

Even the results in the North hardly seem in doubt, with Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party widely expected to easily win out over lesser parties, with Sinn Fein on the Nationalist side continuing to exert dominance over the SDLP.

The only question that remains is whether Paisley will make the March 26 deadline for sharing power, which looks like a better than even money proposition at present.