Obama lauds Irish, U.S. ties

WASHINGTON -- Call him Barack O'Bama.

As White House fountains ran green for St. Patrick's Day, the president saluted strong U.S.-Irish ties in a warm welcome for Ireland's leaders and turned to a critical campaign backer, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, to fill the post of U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

Obama also boasted of his Irish ancestry.

"My great-great-great-grandfather on my mother's side hailed from a small village in County Offaly," he said, recalling a genealogical gem from the campaign for a meeting with Ireland's prime minister, Brian Cowen.

On a serious note, Obama and his aides pushed to salvage a peace in Northern Ireland during private meetings with political leaders. Obama and Cowen met in the Oval Office; the president held a separate session with Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy, Martin McGuinness.

Gerald Herbert ~ Associated PressWith the Jefferson Memorial in the background, the fountain on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington is seen with green-colored water in honor of St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday in Washington.

Earlier, Obama tapped Rooney for the ambassadorship. A lifelong Republican, Rooney endorsed Obama during Pennsylvania's Democratic primary last year and campaigned for him throughout the election. The president returned the favor by nominating him to the ambassador post, a move that had been the subject of speculation in Irish circles in recent days.

The grandson of an Irish immigrant, Rooney in the 1970s helped found the American Ireland Fund, an organization that has raised millions for advocacy of peace and education in Ireland. His legacy is reflected in a Steelers-themed bar in a disused linen mill in one of the roughest parts of northwest Belfast.

From appearance to agenda, the White House was in an unmistakable Irish mood.

First Lady Michelle Obama came up with the idea to dye the fountains on the White House's North and South lawns green, said spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld. She was inspired by her hometown of Chicago, where the city marks the national holiday of Ireland by dyeing the river green.

On tap for evening festivities was green sparkling wine from a California vineyard.

The president took part in a shamrock ceremony at the White House, and Obama and the Irish leaders also attended a Capitol Hill luncheon celebrating the holiday. Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Cowen paid tribute to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who is being treated for brain cancer and was unable to attend. Cowen said Kennedy was "our most special Irishman."

Obama joked about putting the apostrophe after the "O" in Obama and suggested Barack was an ancient Celtic name. Addressing Cowen, he said, "I hope our efforts today put me on the path of earning that apostrophe."

The Irish guests were invited back to the White House for a cocktail reception Tuesday night. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon from Northern Ireland was to be featured. The White House also invited Maggie McCarthy, a traditional Irish dancer and musician from Cork, and vocal group Celtic Thunder. The Shannon Rovers, the official pipe band of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day festival, also were set to perform.

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Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Natasha Metzler, Kim Hefling and Julie Pace in Washington and Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.