Tens of thousands of US fans descend on Dublin for American football game

A highly anticipated college football game in Dublin has witnessed the largest single peacetime movement of US citizens out of the country, the US ambassador to Ireland has said.

Around 40,000 American football fans from the US have descended on the Irish capital for Saturday’s encounter between Notre Dame and Navy at the Aviva Stadium.

Ambassador Claire Cronin spoke about the significance of the weekend as she accompanied two US Congressional delegations to a meeting with Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Friday.

“We expect 40,000 Americans to travel to Dublin this weekend, which is the largest single movement of American people, absent during a war time, in history,” she said.

“So we’re delighted about that. We’re also very delighted that when we talk about the US-Ireland relationship, it’s a relationship that has no boundaries.

“So we have a bipartisan delegation here, bicameral as well, both members of the Senate and the House.

“I can say that within the United States, although there are certain things we may or may not agree on everything, but when it comes to all things Ireland, our United States Congress and Senate has always been a great friend and ally to Ireland.”

The two Congressional delegations were led by Democratic Senator Christopher Murphy from Connecticut and Republican Congressman Pat Fallon from Texas.

Mr Murphy said it was a “really important weekend”.

“Not only is there an incredibly important sporting match that will draw tens of thousands of Americans as well as members of the community to a game that is going to be watched all around the world, but we also have hundreds of state legislators who are here, we have hundreds of CEOs of American and Irish companies that are meeting and… we have a very large,