President Obama Announces Intention to Nominate Daniel Rooney as Ambassador to Ireland

WASHINGTON, D.C. 3.17.09
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Daniel Rooney as the Ambassador to Ireland.

President Obama said, "I am honored and grateful that such a dedicated and accomplished individual has agreed to serve as the representative of the United States to the Irish people. Dan Rooney is an unwavering supporter of Irish peace, culture, and education, and I have every confidence that he and Secretary Clinton will ensure America’s continued close and unique partnership with Ireland in the years ahead."   • more >

Dan Rooney

He is known for taking his family’s small business from a mom and pop shop and transforming it into a national institution in the Professional Sports and Entertainment Industry, for being the Chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, for being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this past February he was accepting the Lombardi Trophy from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after his team won Super Bowl XLIII, For leading the sport world’s efforts to include diversity beyond the field and into the front office through the “Rooney Rule”. That’s why Americans revere him, but in Ireland Dan Rooney is known as a man instrumental in the Peace Process and for the founding of The American Ireland Fund, which has raised more than $300 million for peace and education programs in that country.

Dan Rooney first learned of Ireland from the stories told by his father, Art Rooney Sr., the son of Irish immigrants, and the tales often were of wars and generations of economic struggle. It would be 1971 before Dan Rooney made his first visit to Ireland, the start of a love affair that continues to this day.

In the mid-1970s, Irish diplomats were seeking allies in America to support a peaceful solution to the divisions in Northern Ireland. Sen. Ted Kennedy and House Speaker Tip O’Neill had given their support, and that was when Dan Rooney and Sir Anthony O’Reilly, then CEO of H.J. Heinz Co. in Pittsburgh, PA., founded The Ireland Fund to support peace and charity in Ireland. The inaugural Ireland Fund banquet was held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and benefited the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the success of that first evening turned it into an annual event.

In a ceremony at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day in 1987, President Ronald Reagan announced the merger and the creation of the  new American Ireland Fund. This merger combined Rooney and O’Reilly’s Ireland Fund with the American Irish Foundation, which was formed in 1963 by President John Kennedy and Irish President Eamon de Valera. Make a quick inquiry to anyone involved they will tell you only with Rooney’s negotiating skills and ability to build a consensus at the forefront would these organizations have merged.

The American Ireland Fund has blossomed into a worldwide network called The Worldwide Ireland Funds, and more than $300 million has been raised for peace and education programs in Ireland, dedicated to reconciliation and regeneration.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure the public, and contributors, understand that ours is a mission of peace,” said Rooney. “We’ve said no to guns and violence from the very start, and I’m proud to say we’ve never wavered on this principle.”

Dan Rooney has been involved in the Irish Peace Process since the Troubles began in the early 1970s. During his trips to visit family in Newry, on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and during visits to Belfast and Derry, Rooney saw first-hand some of the worst violence and destruction. Determined to end the fighting, Rooney worked with thousands of Irish people and with political leaders such as John Hume and David Trimble to bridge the political and sectarian divide and promote understanding and tolerance. Hume and Trimble would win the Nobel Peace prize for their achievements.

In a recent conversation with Dan Rooney he talked about President Obama and how Ireland’s Peace Process exemplifies his approach to diplomacy “I remember his foreign policy speech given this summer, he spoke of flying over the world’s troubled spots where thousands of desperate faces were looking up. He wondered aloud ‘what do these folks think of America when this helicopter flies over’

“I (Dan) remember not too long ago those desperate faces were Irish. Through the leadership of American diplomacy the compassion of American philanthropy, the willingness to compromise from the British and especially an open hearted view towards reconciliation from the Irish people, the Peace Process turned hatred into hope. Through the subsequent growth of Ireland’s economy, the continued commitment towards world class academia and the explosion of contributions to modern culture, lead by U2, Ireland stands as a beacon to the world that a long term authentic and tireless commitment to peace is much more effective and productive than any effort of war. When President Obama ended that speech he said ‘that child looking up at the helicopter must see America and feel hope’ I believe in Ireland we have all come a long way in giving it’s children the opportunity to feel that hope.”

In 2008, Dan Rooney received an honorary Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Rooney received the honor for his “exceptional contribution to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland,” according to Shaun Woodward, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland has made remarkable progress over the past decade,” Woodward said. “The fact that there has been such progress is down, in no small measure, to the considerable contribution made by Daniel in helping to achieve a climate of understanding and a brighter future for all in Northern Ireland.”

At the same time as the inaugural Ireland Fund Banquet, Dan Rooney and his wife Patricia created the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, which is presented annually to an outstanding Irish-born writer. Dan and Patricia also established the Rooney Fellowship, which brings young people from his ancestral town of Newry to America for career development.

The American Ireland Fund is most proud to give its lifetime achievement award to one of its own. There truly are few Americans more qualified to be called a friend of Ireland than Dan Rooney.

Dan Rooney Awards/Committees

1973 – Chairman, NFL Expansion Committee
1972 – The Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year
1975 – James J. Walker Award – Long and Meritorious Service – Boxing Writers Assoc. of America
1975 – Named Team President
1976 – Co-Founder, The American Ireland Fund
1976 – Chairman, NFL Negotiating Committee
1985 – Pope John XXIII Award
1987 – Founded annual prize for Irish Literature
1988 – Named outright owner
1989 – Co-Founder of the Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh
1990 – Pete Rozelle Award
1990 – Helped form Newry Pittsburgh Partnership to stimulate American investment in area
1993 – Co-Author of NFL salary Cap
1993 – “Rooney Fellowship” - Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh – Student from Northern Ireland spends one year at Pitt or Duquesne in the Business Program and also interns with H.J. Heinz and the Steelers
1994 – Duquesne University, Honorary Doctorate
1998 – Elsie Hillman Award, WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh
1999 – Maxwell Football Club Reds Bagnell Award – contributions to the game of football
2000 – Pro Football Hall of Fame
2000 – NFL Management Council Committee
2000 – NFL Properties Executive Committee
2000 – NFL Player/Club Operations Committee
2001 – The Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year
2001 – YMCA Person of the Year
2002 – Chairman, NFL Diversity in the Workplace Committee
2003 – The Rooney Rule – Chairman of League’s Diversity Committee
2004 – The American Ireland Fund Humanitarian Award
2005 – Senator John Heinz History Makers Award
2006 – Co-Chair of NFL Commissioner Search Committee
2006 – Honored for passion for aviation by the Allegheny County Airport
2007 – Allan H. (Bud) Selig Mentoring Award – McLendon Foundation Steering Committee
2007 – Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award
2007 - Ronald Brown Leadership Award, Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh
2008 – Washington and Jefferson Entrepreneur of the Year
2008 – YWCA Racial Justice Award – Office of the Allegheny County Council
2008 – Pennsylvania Society’s Gold Medal Award
2008 - Ellis Island Medal of Honor given by National Ethnic Coalition
2008 – Pennsylvania's 56th Electoral College Teller
2008 – Named honorary Commander of the British Empire for contributions to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland
2009 – Paul Tank Younger Award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance
2009 – The American Ireland Fund Lifetime Achievement Award

Other committees served on: NFL Hall of Fame Committee, NFL Trust Fund Committee, NFL Films Committee and the NFL Scheduling Committee, Committee for Change, North Side Good Government, Catholic Youth Association, The Holy Family Institute, The Cardinal Wright Regional School, Catholic Charities, Boys & Girls Club, Children’s Hospital, Bishop’s Education Fund,  The North Side Friends and Neighbors, The Extra Mile Education Association, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Walsh Visa Program, University Mind, Heart and Spirit Award

Board Member for: The American Ireland Fund, The Knights of Equity, The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, The Heinz History Center, United Way of America, and Duquesne University, Fritz Pollard Alliance