As he makes the final preparations for his trip to Russia and Ireland, President Clinton has formally announced the nomination of former Governor Michael Sullivan of Wyoming to be the new US ambassador to Ireland.
The appointment which was predicted by The Irish Times last June will have to be approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
President Clinton will arrive in Belfast next Thursday from Moscow and will spend time there as well as in Omagh and Armagh before travelling to Dublin late that night.
The President's adviser on Northern Ireland, Mr Jim Steinberg of the National Security Council, said yesterday that the three aims of the visit would be to pay tribute to the courage and determination of the leaders and people of Northern Ireland for making the Belfast Agreement possible; to show support for the rapid implementation of the agreement; and to show US determination to stay "deeply involved in the peace process and the economic development both in Northern Ireland and the Republic."
In Omagh, the President will show sympathy for the people and pay personal tribute to their remarkable efforts and to the way they have shown they are not going to be deterred from following peace, Mr Steinberg said.
In the Republic, the President will have a full day, first meeting the Taoiseach and the Cabinet, then attending a reception and lunch in the Royal College of Surgeons. In the afternoon he will give a speech emphasising Irish economic progress at the Gateway 2000 computer factory in Santry.
On Saturday, in Limerick, the President will make a major speech in O'Connell St. Later, he will play golf in Ballybunion.
Mr Sullivan, who is usually called "Mike", is unknown to most of the Irish-American organisations unlike the other names which were mentioned for the post such as former Congressman, Bruce Morrison; Washington lawyer, Mr Paul Quinn; former union leader, Mr Tom Donahue; and the head of the Peace Corps, Mr Mark Gearan.
When rumours about Mr Sullivan becoming the next ambassador began to circulate there was strong criticism of such an appointment in some of the IrishAmerican press which queried his credentials for the post as someone who had never visited Ireland and seemed remote from the peace process.
Mr Sullivan, 58, had the advantage of being a fairly close friend of Mr Clinton. He forged a strong bond with the future President when he became the first western governor to come out in favour of Mr Clinton's candidacy in his 1992 campaign.
Mr Sullivan was a very successful Democratic governor of Wyoming for two terms from 1986 to 1994 when he gave up the chance of a third term to run for the US Senate at the request of President Clinton, it is said. But he was defeated by his opponent in a year which saw a Republican landslide across the US.