Gerry Adams with Joe Biden
Credit: Sinn Fein/Twitter
Joe Biden was among a group of US politicians who angered John Major’s Conservative government when he argued publicly for Gerry Adams to be allowed into the United States as part of the drive towards the Northern Ireland peace process, senior diplomatic sources have revealed.
The then senator was among a group of Democrat politicians who worked to convince President Clinton to grant Mr Adams, the then President of Sinn Fein — the political wing of the IRA — a visa in 1994.
Mr Biden argued that allowing Mr Adams to visit the US would draw him deeper into the peace process and distance him from the IRA’s continuing armed struggle against British rule in the province.
But sources have revealed that his efforts infuritated Mr Major’s Government, which did not want the Sinn Fein leader to enjoy the prestige and credibility which would accompany such a visit.
US Vice President Joe Biden (c-l) Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (2-r) and His Wife Fionnuala O'kelly (3-r) in the Town of Ballina during a tour in the County of Mayo, Ireland, on 22 June 2016
Credit: Paul Mcerlane/EPA/Shutterstock
Although initially wary of granting him a visa, the US Government changed its approach days before the visit was due after Adams made remarks about ending violence in a meeting with American diplomats in Belfast.
During the visit to New York Mr Adams enjoyed a hero’s welcome, boosting his profile and standing in the large and influential Irish-American community.
A senior UK diplomatic source told the Telegraph: “Joe Biden did encourage President Bill Clinton to ignore British advice and get Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to the US. It wasn’t really what we thought was helpful at the time
“With hindsight, however, it probably forced Adams and McGuiness to sign up to the peace process, but it was not a popular decision with the British.”
Former President Bill Clinton hugs Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams after the funeral of former IRA commander and Sinn Fein deputy leader Martin McGuinness at St Columba's Church in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Thursday, March 23, 2017.
Credit: Niall Carson/AP
Documents released in 2018 revealed that Mr Clinton’s decision to issue a visa left Mr Major so furious that felt unable to communicate with the American president until he was “in a calmer mood”.
But the reaction of the British ministers to Mr Biden’s part in the process has not been revealed until now.
The diplomatic source said: “Biden was one of a group of people, along with Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry, who argued for Adams to be admitted to the US.
“I’m sure Mr Biden did not give money to groups like NORAID and he was not a supporter of violence, but he was very keen on the Good Friday Agreement.”
Britain’s former Ambassador to Washington at the time, Sir Peter Westmacott, has confirmed there was disquiet in Whitehall at Mr Biden’s efforts to draw Mr Adams into the peace process, with diplomats at the time fearing it would gave the IRA a high-profile platform to justify terrorism.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph he says: “Biden has strong British roots . . . but he has even stronger Irish roots, and was one of four leading Democratic senators who urged President Clinton in 1993 to take a risk for peace and allow Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to visit the US, ignoring protests from No 10. Hence the tweet Biden issued in September warning that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement could not be allowed to become ‘a casualty of Brexit’.
President Clinton last year tweeted on the 25th anniversary of the visit that his decision to grant Mr Adams a visa was "highly controversial but critical" to jumpstarting the peace process.
Mr Biden has spoken fondly of his Irish Catholic roots, and made no secret of his sympathies for the cause of Irish nationalism.
In the 1980s he described Britain’s position in Northern Ireland as “absolutely outrageous” and argued against the deportation of IRA suspects from the US to Britain.
In 1985 he told the Senate during a debate on a possible extradition treaty: “If we ratify this treaty, we will be admitting that the justice system in Northern Ireland is fair — a notion I absolutely abhor.”
He condemned IRA murderers, but also spoke about the threat to the civil liberties of the IRA suspects if they were ever returned to Northern Ireland.
A former Biden aide, Shailagh Murray, told the New York Times earlier this year: “The Irish cause is in his veins.”
Mr Biden visited Ireland in 2016 as Barack Obama’s Vice-President, speaking fondly of his roots on the island.
In a letter ahead of the visit he stated: “I’m going back to Ireland – the country from which my ancestors hailed, and a country whose independence the Easter Rising set in motion, 100 years ago this year.
“James Joyce wrote, ‘When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.’ Well, Northeast Pennsylvania will be written on my heart. But Ireland will be written on my soul.”
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