Dan Rooney tracks down American in Ireland for 9/11 memorial

Mystery woman has brought flowers to same spot for ten years

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U.S. ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney

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Listen to Niall O'Dowd speak about "Threats of attacks on 9/11 anniversary" on RTE's "Morning Ireland"

Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney has discovered the identity of a woman who has marked the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks each year at the US embassy in Dublin.

Rooney became curious about the identity of the woman - who leaves a bouquet of flowers outside the US embassy in Ballsbridge each year - to mark the anniversary.

Eithne Boland, an American who moved to Ireland after studying at UCD in 1965, had her identity uncovered at Rooney’s request.

'I was astonished to get a lovely phone call,' Boland told The Irish Times. 'It’s kind of overwhelming. I’ve always known that the people in the embassy really appreciate the flowers being laid there, and I love doing it,' she added.

'The origin of it was September 11th 2001, and the day after this place was an acre of flowers. So I just kept on bringing flowers because I’m from New York and I remember the Twin Towers being built.

'There was a lot of controversy about them being built at the time, and you could see them from almost anywhere in Manhattan. It was amazing.'
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Will the 9/11 ten year anniversary be Irish ambassador Dan Rooney’s swan song?
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Listen to Niall O'Dowd speak about "Threats of attacks on 9/11 anniversary" on RTE's "Morning Ireland"

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