Ireland is home turf for Rooney family as Steelers lead NFL into Dublin game

DUBLIN (AP) — No trip to Newry was complete for the late Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Daniel M. Rooney until he stopped by the Whitegates community center that he helped get off the ground in the 1990s.

“Always visited for half an hour for a cup of tea with the people,” recalled local businessman Feargal McCormack. “He loved a cup of tea."

The kettle was warm when the Rooneys visited Newry on Thursday before crossing the border — Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. — into the Republic of Ireland for the Steelers’ game against the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park in Dublin.

Indeed, Sunday’s showdown — Ireland’s first time hosting a regular-season NFL game — represents a Rooney homecoming, technically in two countries.

The family traces its roots to Newry, a small town located 5 miles from the border. Team executive Dan Rooney was there for an event with the Ireland Funds, a philanthropic organization that his grandfather cofounded more than 30 years before becoming U.S. ambassador to Ireland in 2009.

The team announced the creation of a scholarship fund in the name of Daniel and Patricia Rooney.

“It’s really special to be able to do this, one with the Ireland Funds, which meant so much to my grandparents, and two to do it in Newry, where the Rooney family hails from,” Dan Rooney, team vice president of business development and strategy, said in comments reported on the Steelers website.

For the NFL, there was little doubt about which team would play a leading role in the Emerald Isle.

“The Rooney family name carries a tremendous amount of weight, so when they initially expressed an interest in playing a game in Ireland, it meant that a lot of people sat up and took notice,” said Henry Hodgson, general manager of the NFL UK and Ireland.

“Because of the connections and the doors that the Rooney family name opens, because they’ve given so much back to Ireland, they certainly helped make this happen,” Hodgson said.

The Steelers were dominating the NFL in the mid-1970s — winning back-to-back Super Bowls in ’75 and ’76 — when Daniel Rooney turned his attention to the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. He cofounded the Ireland Funds, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to promote peace.

Rooney also cofounded the Newry-Pittsburgh Partnership in 1990 to boost business and educational exchanges.

“The fact that he was coming to Newry and that he was encouraging delegations to come — the confidence he gave in those very early years was very significant to ultimately the success which has followed,” said McCormack, a Rooney family friend and senior partner at accounting firm AAB.

McCormack compiled the Rooney family ancestry: Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney’s great-grandfather emigrated from Newry around 1846.

As U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Daniel Rooney made it a point to visit “all 32 counties” in Ireland — that’s 26 in the Republic and six in the North.

And of course, have a cup of tea in each.

Under the NFL’s global markets program, the Steelers hold league-granted rights on the “island of Ireland." They can sign commercial deals and hold fan events, all part of the league’s aggressive international growth efforts.

Earlier Thursday in Belfast, Steelers greats Jerome Bettis and Ike Taylor ran a flag football clinic.

The Steelers have teamed up with the Gaelic Athletic Association, which owns Croke Park, to help grow its fan base in Ireland.

The former ambassador, who died in 2017, had hoped to bring a regular-season game earlier. Croke Park lobbied to get one in 2013 but instead the league added a second London game that year — the Steelers played one of them, losing to the Vikings 34-27.

Steelers President Art Rooney II noted at the time that his father had been “pushing to have a game in Dublin.” In 1997, the Steelers beat the Chicago Bears 30-17 in a preseason game at Croke Park.

A fan of Gaelic games, Daniel Rooney was a frequent visitor to Croke Park. The GAA says Rooney also played a quiet role in the redevelopment of Ireland's biggest stadium by encouraging designers to make it more multifunctional.

“He has to be acknowledged on that regard," GAA head of communications Alan Milton said.

Mike Tomlin has always acknowledged his respect for the late ambassador.

“I certainly will be thinking a lot about him when we’re there,” the Steelers head coach said Tuesday. "You talk about a guy that certainly had a lot of passion for Ireland. ... I’m sure he’ll be smiling down at us this weekend.”

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From left, former Pittsburgh Steelers player Jerome Bettis, Dan Rooney and Ike Taylor Tow speak with participants at the NFL Flag Football in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Sept 25, 2025. (Peter Morrison/AP Content Services for the NFL)

Pittsburgh Steelers' Dan Rooney signs autographs at the NFL Flag Football in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Thursday, Sept 25, 2025. (Peter Morrison/AP Content Services for the NFL)

FILE - A view from inside Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Ken Maguire, File)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin speaks during news conference after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J Puskar)

FILE - Daniel Rooney, Ambassador of the United States of America to Ireland meets with Irish President Mary Mc Aleese at Aras an Uachtarain, Dublin, Ireland, Friday, July, 2, 2009 (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, file)

FILE - Daniel Rooney, Ambassador of the United States of America for Ireland hands his Credentials to Irish President Mary Mc Aleese at Aras an Uachtarain, Dublin, Ireland, Friday, July, 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, file)

FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, President Barack Obama's nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 24, 2009, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination.. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, file)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city said Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to link a man charged in the double homicide of his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home last month to the killings.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in an Associated Press interview that authorities now believe Michael David McKee, 39, a vascular surgeon who was living in Chicago, was the person seen walking down a dark alley near Monique and Spencer Tepe's home in video footage from the night of the murders. His vehicle has also been identified traveling near the house, and a firearm found in his Illinois residence also traced to evidence at the scene, she said.

An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings.

His arrest Saturday capped off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.

“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant told the AP. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”

Bryant said that the department wants the public to keep the tips coming. Investigators were able to follow up on every phone call, email and private tip shared from the community to the department and some of that information allowed them to gather enough evidence to make an arrest, she said.

That work culminated in the apprehension of McKee in Rockford, Illinois, where the hospital where he worked — OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center — has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths. Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Her husband, a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police, was 37.

McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains in jail. Bryant said officials are working out details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next hearing in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city doesn't prioritize high-profile cases any more than others, noting that the city's closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. The city also celebrated in 2025 its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007, Ginther said.

“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” he told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”

Ginther said it is vital for central Ohioans to continue to grieve with the Tepes' family, which includes two young children, and loved ones, as they cope with “such an unimaginable loss.”

“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.

This undated booking photo provided by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, shows Michael David McKee, who was charged in the killing of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, 2025. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)