He has not been the kind of obvious go-to Irish American guy that the likes of Senator Edward Kennedy was in former years.
But Senator Patrick Leahy has always been top of the must see list, or close to it, for Irish political leaders visiting Washington.
Now the senior senator from Vermont, the senior senator in the Senate itself, is calling it a day.
The precise day will be the one that the new Senate is sworn in, in January 2023, just weeks after the 2022 mid-term elections.
Leahy announced Monday that he would not be seeking a new term to add to the eight six year terms that will conclude at the end of his current one.
Leahy is presently President pro tempore of the United States Senate and chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Over his long career Leahy has been a consistent and strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement and has also involved himself in other issues that rate highly among Irish American activists, not least immigration reform.
