SHARED VALUES
Former Vice President Biden extols virtues of late Steelers president, owner Dan Rooney
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Former Vice President Joe Biden returned to the Pittsburgh area Friday for the second time in less than two weeks, this time for a Duquesne University event celebrating the late Steelers owner and president Dan Rooney.
Mr. Biden, fresh off campaigning in the region March 6 for congressional candidate Conor Lamb, spoke Friday about his and Mr. Rooney’s “shared Irish values.”
The former vice president was the keynote speaker at the invitation-only symposium titled, “Sláinte, Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dan Rooney.” The event also included a panel of former Steelers Franco Harris, Mike Wagner, Charlie Batch and Rocky Bleier, and a panel on Mr. Rooney’s time as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland. “Sláinte” is an Irish expression meaning “health” that is used as a casual toast, like “cheers” in English.
Mr. Rooney, a lifelong Republican, crossed party lines in 2008 to endorse Barack Obama for president and was appointed ambassador to Ireland in 2009. Mr. Rooney had a history of decades of advocacy of the Irish peace process, back to co-founding the Ireland Funds in 1976.
Mr. Biden mostly avoided politics in his speech, making no mention of the recent race in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District in which Mr. Lamb narrowly defeated Republican Rick Saccone.
His only direct remark on contemporary politics concerned