National Archives - Attempt to get President Carter to offer help in ending stalemate

ON ST Patrick’s Day 1977, four prominent Irish-American politicians issued a statement in Washington denouncing the violence in Northern Ireland.

The four — Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Daniel P Moynihan of New York, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill and Governor Hugh Carey of New York — appealed to Americans “to renounce any action that promotes the current violence or provides support or encouragement for organisations engaged in violence”.

They encouraged the Carter administration to take a stand on Northern Ireland, which seemed hopelessly deadlocked at the time.