Irish Examiner view: Time to renew relationships with US

New ambassador to Ireland a welcome move

Claire Cronin, new US ambassador to Ireland

This month’s G7 summit was a reassuring step in renewing relationships between America and the wider democratic world. 

That process continues, on a more intimate scale, with president Joe Biden’s appointment of Massachusetts representative Claire Cronin as the next US ambassador to Ireland.

The appointment is welcome especially as it offers an opportunity to restore some lustre to the position. 

The previous administration did not appoint an envoy for two years and its nominee, octogenarian businessman Ed Crawford quit after November’s White House election. In all, he was in situ for less than two years.

A lawyer, Ms Cronin is a senior Democratic lawmaker in the Massachusetts statehouse. She will inevitably be compared to a previous envoy from Massachusetts — the late Jean Kennedy Smith who served from 1993 to 1998. 

She played a significant if understated role in consolidating the opportunities of the Good Friday Agreement. Her deft diplomatic skills, and the steel in her velvet glove, may be necessary again as Brexit and an ever-more challenged unionism change relationships on these islands. 

Ms Cronin’s appointment is indeed welcome and it is reassuring that the nomination was widely sought. That it was made in a timely fashion will also help reinvigorate relationships left to wither on the vine by the last administration.

Welcome Ambassador Cronin — céad míle fáilte romhat.