Ambassador Meets Ahern.

THE new U.S. Ambassador to Ireland James C. Kenny met with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern at Government Buildings in Dublin last Friday. Kenny presented his credentials to President Mary McAleese on October 31, and he and his wife Margaret are now resident at the ambassador’s home in Phoenix Park. 

Kenny, from Chicago, is a major Republican Party donor and close confidante of President George W. Bush, who nominated him to the post of ambassador in the summer. Kenny was a member of Bush’s transition team, and also a member of President Bush’s first overseas delegation in 2002 when Bush visited Nicaragua. Kenny also had close ties with the first President Bush, having been appointed by Bush to the National Corporation for Housing Partnerships.

Prior to his Dublin appointment, Kenny was executive vice president of Kenny Construction Company and president of Kenny Management Services, major construction companies in Illinois.