State Papers: British were 'apoplectic' at US giving visa waiver to Gerry Adams 

A conference in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel had invited representatives of all the North's main political parties but the unionist parties refused

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was granted the waiver on January 30, 1994, but the visa was “strictly limited” in duration and he was not allowed to travel outside a 25-mile radius of the conference centre.

British officials were “apoplectic” at the decision by the US authorities to grant a visa waiver to Gerry Adams in 1994 but eventually conceded that the move was “beneficial” for the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Confidential Government files record the strong opposition of the British government towards proposals that the Sinn Féin president would be permitted to travel to the US for a conference that year.

Documents released by the National Archives show Irish officials recording that their British counterparts believed there would be “hell to pay” if the visa was granted.

However, the US president, Bill Clinton, whose administration had liaised closely with the Irish government, intervened to ensure the visa was approved for the Sinn Féin leader ahead of a conference in New York in February 1994.

The conference which took place in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel had invited representatives of all the main political parties in Northern Ireland to attend but the unionist parties refused the offer.

(Left to right) John Hume, Bill Clinton and Pat Hume at the Guildhall in Derry in 2014. The then SDLP leader supported the decision of the then US President to ensure the visa was approved for Gerry Adams ahead of a conference in New York in February 1994.

Mr Adams was granted the waiver on January 30, 1994, but the visa was “strictly limited” in duration and he was not allowed to travel outside a 25-mile radius of the conference centre.

Documents suggest the conference might have been a “subtext” for Mr Adams to apply for a visa with the trip providing him with the opportunity to speak to supporters of the republican movement in the US about the prospect of an IRA ceasefire which was declared later that year.

The official position of the Irish government was that the decision was entirely one for the US authorities to make, while the British government was opposing it “with vehemence and determination.” 

Ms Soderberg told Irish diplomats that the British were “apoplectic” about the issue while there was “blood on the floor” within the Clinton administration over the possibility that the US president would speak to the Sinn Féin leader. She said Mr Adams should not underestimate the strong resistance to him as the IRA were still “blowing up buildings.” 

State files show that the SDLP leadership was also split about the granting of a visa to the Sinn Féin president with the party leader John Hume supporting the measure but its deputy leader, Seamus Mallon, opposing the decision.

Mr Hume argued the visa would help Mr Adams to sell support for the Downing Street Declaration to “the more hardline elements” in the IRA. The US vice president, Al Gore said the US administration had “taken a gamble” on the visa and that the SDLP leader’s input had been “vital.” 

A fax sent by the Irish ambassador to the US, Dermot Gallagher, to Dublin about the granting of the visa to Mr Adams recorded that the White House had emphasised it had been “a difficult decision.” 

Mr Gallagher said he was informed the decision was not due to “British pressure” but because of “domestic terrorism politics” following security concerns in the US after the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993.

The ambassador noted that the British government had also been informed of the decision and had seemed resigned that Mr Adams would get permission to travel to New York.

British Prime Minister John Major (left) wrote to the Taoiseach Albert Reynolds (right) claiming the Clinton administration must be regretting their decision.

The British prime minister, John Major, wrote to the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, the week after Mr Adams’ visit to the US in which he claimed the Clinton administration must be regretting their decision as the Sinn Féin leader had undermined the Downing Street Declaration during his stay.

By June 1994, however, the British cabinet secretary, Robin Butler, told the Irish ambassador to London, Joseph Small, that the granting of the visa was “with benefit of hindsight, on balance, beneficial.” 

A report of the meeting recorded Mr Butler as stating what hurt the British government most is that its advice had not been accepted by the US authorities.

Files show Mr Clinton also personally intervened to allow Mr Adams to attend fundraising events during his second visit to the US in March 1995. The trade-off was that the Sinn Féin leader would give a commitment to state that no issue, including decommissioning, should be excluded from any future talks in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Mr Adams’ visa for the US was renewed in March 1996, despite the ending of the IRA ceasefire a month earlier, although the Sinn Féin leader undertook not to engage in fundraising during his trip in what was described as “an understanding”. 

However, Mr Adams was informed that he would not be invited to the White House or get to meet Mr Clinton. Mr Gallagher recorded that decision had made Mr Adams “particularly unhappy.”