On St. Patty's Day, Obama names ambassador to Ireland

After his meeting with Cowen, Obama met with Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy Martin McGuinness in a closed-door session in the office of national security advisor James L. Jones Jr.

Obama also spoke at the annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon, hosted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where he addressed Ireland's 10-year run of relative peace that appeared to be shaken this month when two soldiers and a policeman were slain in brazen attacks in Northern Ireland.

"This peace will prevail because the response of the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders to these cowardly attacks have been nothing short of heroic, true profiles in courage," Obama said

Cowen called the people who killed the men "a tiny and evil and unrepresentative minority" determined to "destroy the peace that we have built painstakingly together."

"They did not succeed in that," he added. "They cannot succeed, and they will not succeed."

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rcole@tribune.com