Irish upset about Obama’s delay in naming ambassador

Begorrah!

Bridget bar the door!

Sneed is told that President Barack Obama’s failure to name a U.S. ambassador to Ireland, a job vacant for the past 15 months, is becoming a diplomatic donnybrook!

It seems Obama can’t get the job done and the Irish are getting their Irish up!

Sneed hears Obama is having difficulty getting big donors vetted and Irish comeuppance may be the reason for the diplomatic snub.

The Erin Isle is so verklempt, Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny raised the question with Obama in the Oval Office three days before St. Patrick’s Day, when the holiday’s formal celebration at the White House was in full swing.

Sneed is told the name of former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, who was U.S. Commerce secretary under former President Bill Clinton, was being floated lately, but it’s apparently being floated on an empty raft.

◆ Translation: Contacted on vacation Tuesday by Sneed, Daley, son of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, dismissed it as a “false rumor.”

◆ Buckshot: Last November, former U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), son of the late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, pulled out of the running — ostensibly because of difficulty getting vetted.

◆ Upshot: His older brother, Tom Carnahan, is now said to be on the list, as well as Washington lawyer Mark Tuohey.

◆ Press shot: The snub is now fodder for the Irish press, which notes that it’s the longest period since the 1930s that the U.S. has not had a top diplomat in Dublin. It has been 15 months since Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a major Obama supporter, left the office.

◆ Tee shot: Tom Foley, who served as ambassador to Ireland for nearly three years under former President George W. Bush and is now running for governor of Connecticut, is surprised Obama hasn’t nominated anyone. He told the Irish Examiner: “It’s too much golf and not enough work . . . If [Obama] knocked off one round of golf he could take care of it.”

Campaign casualty . . .

Pity poor Paul Vallas, Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate.

◆ Translation: Sneed is told that Vallas’ beloved father, Gus, suffered a stroke while having knee surgery on Election Day and had to be transferred to a hospital in Naperville. Good grief.

Campaign abacus . . .

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Kirk Dillard figures he lost by two votes each from 10,000 precincts; compared to 193 votes during his last gubernatorial try.

◆ To wit: “Kirk Dillard is living proof every vote counts,” Dillard said. He told Sneed: “It’ll be weird not to be in it after 16 years in office, but now I can walk my dog, go to movies, and pick who I really like.”

Scratch the fries . . .

$$$$: It was legendary Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis who picked up the breakfast tab for the three Dem amigos — Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin — dining in the back room of his place Wednesday morning.

◆ Grub gab: “They all had eggs and bacon and toast and coffee, except Rahm, who didn’t eat the bacon,” Sianis told Sneed.

Hair scare . . .

First lady Michelle Obama may have banned the press from her trip to China this week, but she did bring her blow-dryer.

◆ Her official hairstylist, Johnny Wright, posted a photo of himself aboard a plane on Instagram on Wednesday from Andrews Air Force base — and wrote that he is “going some place far far away.”

The Crowe call . . .

Pew news: Now comes word actor Russell Crowe, who has been promoting his film “Noah,” did meet Pope Francis in Rome — but not as planned. When it became apparent there would be no private audience, Crowe and his entourage scrambled to greet the pope after attending his weekly public audience at St. Peter’s Square.

Sneedlings . . .

Thursday’s birthdays: Holly Hunter, 56; Spike Lee, 57, and Carl Reiner, 92.