The position has been vacant since January 2017.
Following weeks of confusion surrounding President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again visit to Ireland, Cabinet is set to appoint a new US Ambassador to Ireland on Wednesday afternoon.
The position has been vacant since Obama’s leave from office in January 2017.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin announced that the confusion over Trump’s impending visit – which was cancelled on Tuesday – showed the need for such an appointment.
It was last filled by American lawyer Kevin O’Malley who was nominated by President Obama in June 2014. O’Malley served until January 20, 2017, the date of Trump’s inauguration.
The duties of ambassador have been filled by the US chargé d’affaires Reece Smyth since then.
Edward Crawford, a successful businessman from Ohio and a long-time donor to the Republican Party, has been seen as the frontrunner since Brian Burns pulled out of the running in the summer of 2017.
It’s understood that Burns withdrew his name as a result of ill health.
A self-professed “serial entrepreneur”, Crawford is the Chairman and CEO of ParkOhio Holdings Corp, a Nasdaq-listed manufacturing and supply-chain company which has operations across the world, as well as The Crawford Group, both headquartered in Cleveland.
Back in 2016, he lead the Ohio effort to raise money to elect Donald Trump as president.
During Trump’s campaign, Crawford said that he believed that Trump was the person who best can enable people like him — noting that both of his parents were immigrants — to prosper.
“We need a positive leader,” stated Crawford.
“We need someone that’s going to help us make the changes necessary to put us back on track so that everyone has a chance.”
The 80-year-old Manhattan native, whose grandparents hail from Cork, has also been centrally involved in the Irish community in Cleveland, Ohio.
He hosted then Taoiseach Enda Kenny at an event to mark the rededication of the Irish Cultural Garden in the city in 2012.
His grandmother, Catherine McCarthy, originally came from Newmarket, Boherbue. His grandfather Healy was also from Cork.
“We have plenty of Crawford and Hennessey first cousins there yet,” he told the Cleveland Mayo Society.
According to the Irish Independent, the White House will announce the appointment of Crawford as the US Ambassador to Ireland on Wedsnday, and the Cabinet is set to approve it.
It is understood the appointment process has been in the works for some time and is unrelated to the postponement of Mr Trump’s visit to Ireland.
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