WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama selected Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney to be U.S. ambassador to Ireland on Tuesday, turning to a lifelong Republican who provided the Democrat critical campaign support during the White House race.Rooney, 76, endorsed Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton during Pennsylvania’s contentious Democratic primary; Clinton won the contest last April. Rooney later campaigned for him in Steelers country in western Pennsylvania, and Obama went on to win the state last November.In the 1970s, Rooney, the grandson of an Irish immigrant, helped found the American Ireland Fund, an organization that has raised millions for advocacy of peace and education in Ireland. His legacy is reflected in a Steelers-themed bar in a disused linen mill in one of the roughest parts of northwest Belfast.—-Contact the Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]