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E-mailNews Obama Creates Irish 'Dream Team'
Senator Barack Obama's campaign has announced the formation of a new high level advisory panel on Irish issues, comprised of seven well known Irish American political heavyweights, to shore up Obama's somewhat frayed relationship with Irish America.
Senators George Mitchell (retired, Maine), Chris Dodd (Connecticut), Edward Kennedy (Mass-achusetts) and Pat Leahy (Vermont), Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland and Congressmen Joe Crowley (New York) and Richard Neal (Massachusetts) were the names announced as panel members on Labor Day by the Obama campaign.
The move comes a week after a statement from the campaign seemed to call into question the appointment of a U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland, which politicians in the North cite as a crucial and ongoing broker in securing a lasting peace.
The new Irish panel is expected to complement the outreach work already being undertaken by Obama's Irish liaison Carol Wheeler, and has received added impetus from the selection of Irish American Senator Joe Biden as Democratic nominee for vice president.
In a statement that reasserted the continuing importance of the special envoy role, Crowley said, "Senator Obama has surrounded himself with a group of advisors who have a long history of working to advance the Northern Ireland peace process and strengthening the U.S.-Irish relationship. I am proud to have been asked to serve on the panel, and I look forward to further engaging Barack on the issues that matter most to the Irish community, such as keeping in place the special U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland."
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