Day Four: U.S. Embassy and DCU

We had an early start this morning, but it has been a really great day!

First, we had breakfast with Rosita Boland. I find her so interesting since she has such a diverse background. She started off as an actress, then began reporting. She writes wonderful articles and she had some really great advice for us. I was happy we were able to see her in person since our previous phone call to her didn't work out so well.

Next, we headed to the U.S. Embassy for our meeting with Dan Rooney! I'm so grateful to Jan and Margot Collins for setting that up for us. Although Ambassador Rooney received a phone call from the president of Ireland which cut into his time with us, I'm just happy we were able to spend a small amount of time with him! While we waited, Karyn Posner-Mullen, Director of Public Affairs, talked with us for a bit about the recent energy conference that Ambassador Rooney attended. Then Mr. Rooney arrived and he was so nice! He said we looked just like a group of Pittsburghers and we made him feel at home. He was only able to talk with us for about ten minutes, but we were able to get a group picture with him. You might be able to see it tomorrow on Point Park's homepage (www.pointpark.edu). He gave everyone a pin which had an American and Irish flag on it. He also gave Jan and me a Steelers pin since I had answered a question and he has met Jan on previous occasions. I felt so lucky!

After Ambassador Rooney left, Press Assistant John Murphy talked with us for a while about how he got his job at the Embassy and other Irish affairs. He discussed how Ambassador Rooney constantly gets asked about the Steelers and when Obama will be coming to Ireland; Murphy estimated that our president has a 70 percent approval rating in the country. He was very interesting and I was so surprised to learn that he was only 23!

Then we went to DCU for a little break before a lecture by Helena Sheehan on Irish TV Drama. It was interesting to hear about the Irish soap operas and compare them to ours. She also gave us some of her opinions on our soap operas and drama shows.

We had the rest of the day off, so I took a little nap. Tonight, I will be going out to really enjoy the Dublin night life since we don't have to wake up early tomorrow!