The Irish-born academic has been nominated to serve as the US Ambassador to the United Nations.

President Barack Obama nominated 42-year-old Samatha Power for the role, who spent the first nine years of her life in Castleknock, Co Dublin.

The Pulitzer Prize winner is known to be a close friend of Obama and served as part of his election team in 2008 until being forced to resign after calling Hilary Clinton a "monster" in an interview with The Scotsman.

Power previously served on the National Security Council as Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, a position she held until earlier this year when she moved to the Atrocities Prevention Board.

She is an expert in topics covered by this group, and in 2003 she a Pulitzer Prize for her book A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which addresses the failure by the American government to prevent genocides.

Power also worked as a journalist during conflicts in Yugoslavia.

In 2005 she moved from journalism to politics, joining Obama's office as an advisor on foreign policy, and has worked with him ever since.

She previously voiced support for "external intervention" in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in the form of a military presence.

Her nomination is subject to approval from the Senate, but if accepted, Power will succeed Susan Rice.

Rice will go on to serve as the National Security Advisor, and some believe she missed out on the more prominent role of Secretary of State due to her handling of the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi.