Five Years Ago Today, Barack Obama Announced his Candidacy for US President

On February 10, 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, IL.  See photos from the announcement.

To mark the occasion, the Obama for America campaign has put together this video, entitled The Story of Us: Five Years Ago.  

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Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers Talks about the Road to the Superbowl

Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and US Ambassador to Ireland, shares his thoughts about the Road to the Superbowl in this new video:

For more about the US Embassy in Ireland, click here.

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Massachusetts Chefs for Obama Hold Fundraiser on Tuesday, January 31 at Boston Center for the Arts

Thirteen of the best chefs in Massachusetts are holding a fund-raising event for the reelection of Barack Obama on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and the guest judges include Diane Patrick, Governor Deval Patrick and Chef Ming Tsi.

Organizers have also created a Massachusetts Chefs for Obama Cookbook on sale, which includes recipes from the state's leading chefs.

For more about the Obama campaign click here.

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Caroline Kennedy Endorses President Obama for Re-election

Caroline Kennedy urged voters to work to re-elect Barack Obama, recalling the event four years ago when her late uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, endorsed Obama before a crowd of enthusiastic students and supporters at American University in Washington DC.

"The 2012 election will be harder than the last," Caroline said.  "In his speech four years ago, Teddy reminded us all of that bright light of hope and possibility that shines even in the darkest hours.  He knew that with Barack Obama as president, America would shine again.  I don't think he would be surprised to know that four years later, this president would have ended the war in Iraq, repealed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and guaranteed women the right to equal pay for equal work."

To read Caroline Kennedy's full statement, click here. 

Here is the video of Senator Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama on January 28, 2008.

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President Obama previews his State of the Union address of January 24, 2012

President Barack Obama has recorded a message previewing some of what he'll talk about during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. Take a minute to watch—then find a house party in your neighborhood.

To follow the America for Obama campaign, click here.

For ongoing information about Irish-Americans for Obama/Biden, follow Obama_IrishUSA on tweeter.

President Obama Goal: To Make United States the World's Top Travel Destination

(January 19, 2012) -- Today President Barack Obama is announcing new initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism to the United States while also adding jobs to the economy.  The goal is to make the United States the world’s top travel and tourism destination, according to a White House press release.

Read full details from today's Press Release.

“Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come and visit America. And the more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work,” said President Obama.

Among the highlights of the plan:

- Connect new travel and tourism opportunities with job creation in the United States
- Focus visitor interest in America's national parks, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites, monuments and other public lands
- Make the Visa Waiver Program a permanent program to expedite non-immigrant tourist visa applications from international visitors
- Create a public access web site with with key information to inform the travel industry about visa processes in key markets

Among the government agencies involved in the nation's tourism efforts are Commerce, Interior, State and Homeland Security. 

President Obama has been a staunch ally of the tourism industry throughout his term, and was an early supporter of the tourism initiative while campaigning in 2008.  

President Obama signed into law the bi-partisan National Travel Promotion Act into law on March 4, 2010, helping to stimulate domestic and international tourism to the United States.

To support the re-election of President Barack Obama, click here.

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Obama for America Re-Election Campaign Touts the Obama Administration Energy Policies

The campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama has issued a new 30 second television ad that puts into perspective the Obama Administration's energy policies and accomplishments in the first term.

In related news, President Obama this week denied the permit to build the Keystone XL oil line, citing unreasonable deadlines by Congress to ram the bill through in 60 days without thorough review.  To read the president's statement, click here.

To learn more about President Obama's energy policies, click here.

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Assessing the Obama Presidency Forum at John F. Kennedy Library on January 15

The John F. Kennedy President Library in Boston is hosting a forum entitled, Assessing Obama's Presidency, to take place on Sunday, January 15, 2012 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Participants include Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, and Hendrik Hertzberg, columnist for The New Yorker, analyze the Obama presidency as the 2012 presidential race begins.  Moderator is former Boston Globe Editorial Page Editor Renee Loth.

For a list of upcoming public forums at JFK Library, click here. 

To support the re-election of President Barack Obama, click here.

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Barack Obama Wins New Hampshire's Primary

 President Barack Obama won this year's Democratic Primary in New Hampshire.  An army of volunteers spread out across the Granite State to talk about the President's record and hear from voters. To see a slideshow of photos from the volunteers, click here. 

The Washington Post called the New Hampshire primary a "dress rehearsal for November."

Among the first-term accomplishments touted by the Obama campaign: 

- Passed the Affordable Care Act to make health care more affordable for more than 30 million Americans.

- Cut taxes for 95% of working families and closed corporate tax loopholes that were sending profits overseas.

- Put in place historic fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks to lower costs at the pump and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

-  Ended the war in Iraq.

To support the re-election of President Barack Obama, click here.

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Bill Daley, White House Chief of Staff, Resigns to Return to Chicago

(January 9, 2012) --  Bill Daley, Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, has resigned from his post to spend more time in Chicago with his family and grandchildren.

In remarks today at the State Dining Room, President Obama said, "Bill has been an outstanding Chief of Staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration.

The president thanked Bill for "his extraordinary service, but also his extraordinary friendship and loyalty to me."  Read the president's full statement here.

Daley helped organize President Obama's trip to Ireland in May 2011, and reflected upon the trip in an interview he gave to Susan Falvella Garraty of the Irish Echo just prior to the visit.  You can read the Echo interview here.

For ongoing information on Irish-Americans for Obama/Biden, follow Obama_IrishUSA on tweeter.

White House Announces New Summer Jobs Initiative for America's Youth

(January 5, 2012) -- Today, the White House announced Summer Jobs+, a new call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012.

President Barack Obama described Summer Jobs + as "a joint initiative that challenges business leaders and communities to join my Administration in providing hundreds of thousands of summer jobs for America’s youth.”

Employers who want to get involved can go directly to Summer Jobs +2012 for details. 

Follow ongoing news about President Obama on Twitter @ Obama_IrishUSA

 

President Barack Obama and the Iowa Caucus

(January 3, 2012) -- Four years ago today, Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus. In his victory speech that night, the then-Senator laid out his vision for what we would accomplish together, from ending the war in Iraq to health care reform.

"I'll be a President who finally makes health care affordable and available to every single American... I'll be a President who ends tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas and put a middle class tax cut into the pockets of working Americans who deserve...I'll be a President who harnesses ingenuity farmers, scientists, and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil once and for all... and I'll be a president who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home."

Four years later, here's what we've accomplished:

- Passed the Affordable Care Act to make health care more affordable for more than 30 million Americans.

- Cut taxes for 95% of working families and closed corporate tax loopholes that were sending profits overseas.

- Put in place historic fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks to lower costs at the pump and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

-  Ended the war in Iraq.

To support the re-election of President Barack Obama, click here.

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President and Mrs. Obama Send Christmas Greetings to America, December 25, 2011

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama offer a special holiday tribute to some of the strongest, bravest, and most resilient members of our American family – the men and women who wear our country’s uniform and the families who support them.

The theme for this 2011 holiday season is "Shine, Give, Share," which offers an opportunity to pay tribute to our troops, veterans, and their families throughout the White House.

View this Christmas Greeting from President and Mrs. Obama on December 24, 2011:

US State Department to Review J1 Summer Work Visas for Foreign Students

The Boston Globe reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered "an extensive and thorough review" of the J1 Summer Work Travel Visa that allows students from around the world to work in the United States each summer.

The program has come under fire recently for a variety of abuses that include poor living conditions and workplace problems for many of the 150,000 students who use the visa each year.

Among the countries using the J-1 visa, according to the Globe story, are Russia, Brazil, Ukraine, Thailand, Ireland, Bulgaria, Peru, Moldova and Poland.

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President Obama, in Kansas, Evokes Teddy Roosevelt in Call for Economic Equality

President Barack Obama returned to his mother's state of Kansas this week and called for a new economic equality that ensures shared prosperity and responsibility in the spirit of President Theodore Roosevelt. 

"Roosevelt understood the free market only works when there are rules of the road that ensure competition is fair and open and honest," the president said to the audience in Osawatomie, Kansas, a place President Roosevelt visited in 1910. "And so he busted up monopolies, forcing those companies to compete for consumers with better services and better prices. And today, they still must. He fought to make sure businesses couldn’t profit by exploiting children or selling food or medicine that wasn’t safe. And today, they still can’t."

You can read the entire speech here.

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President Obama Meets EU Leaders Amid Euro Crisis

(Photo: Herman Van Rompuy, President Obama and Jose Manuel Barroso)

"The United States urged European Union officials to move forcefully and decisively in responding to the mounting crisis involving the euro and a potential threat to the world economy," according to a report by the US State Department.

President Barack Obama met with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso at the White House for an annual summit. Much of the discussion focused on the euro crisis and its potential impact on the world economy and the United States.

 

To read the full story by Merle David Kellerhals, Jr., click here. 

To view regular updates about European affairs, visit Embassy of the United States in Dublin.

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US Ambassador Dan Rooney Convenes Jobs Conference in Dublin, Ireland

Photo, left to right: John Sweeney, President Emeritus of AFL-CIO; Richard Bruton, T.D., Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Daniel M. Rooney, US Ambassador to Ireland.

On October 7, 2011 US Ambassador Daniel M. Rooney, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, T.D. hosted a bilateral business conference entitled “Growing Jobs: US-Ireland Priorities and Bilateral Opportunities.”

To read Ambassador Rooney's remarks, click here.

Find out more about the US Embassy in Ireland or follow it on FaceBook.

To follow Irish Americans for Obama/Biden on Tweeter, click here.

US Attorney General Eric Holder Visits Ireland, Praises US-Ireland Relations

On Wednesday, September 21, 2011, United States Attorney General Eric Holder was in Dublin, Ireland, addressing the Institute of International and European Affairs on “Advancing Common Priorities: Combating Crime and Ensuring Gobal Security through International Partnerships.”

Holder praised "a tradition of cooperation (between Ireland and the United States) that stretches back nearly two and a half centuries – to the time when America was little more than a grand, improbable idea."

To read the entire speech, click here.   To view a video of the speech, click here. 

You can find ongoing information on US-Ireland relations by visiting the US Embassy in Ireland website.

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Remarks of Dan Rooney, US Ambassador to Ireland, on September 11, 2011

On Sunday, September 11, 2011 U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Daniel M. Rooney  and his wife Mrs. Patricia Rooney held a Ceremony of Peace and Reflection at the Royal Dublin Society Concert Hall (RDS) to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

To read a full transcript of Ambassador Rooney's remarks, click here.

You can find ongoing information about Ambassador Rooney and the American diplomatic mission in Ireland by visiting http://dublin.usembassy.gov/index.html 

US Embassy in Dublin to hold Ceremony of Reflection and Peace on September 11, 2011

On Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.(GMT) the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland is holding a special Ceremony of Reflection and Peace in honor of the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2011 and to remember the victims of 9/11.

Joining US Ambassador Dan Rooney at the Embassy are Ireland's President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Enda Kenny. You can see a full schedule of activities for the day by clicking here.

For more information about the US Embassy in Ireland, click here or follow it on Facebook.

To find out more about President Barack Obama and ceremonies marking 9/11, visit the WhiteHouse.

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