Bush bans SF from Paddy’s Day visit

US President George W Bush will exclude all Northern political parties, including Sinn Féin, from the traditional St Patrick’s Day reception in the White House because of the Northern Bank robbery.

The Bush administration has decided to adopt this radical change of policy because it was concerned that if it excluded Sinn Féin alone, the party could take advantage of being "victimised".

There are also strong signals from the White House that it has lowered the priority of the peace process in the light of the failure to reach agreement.

While it is expected that most Northern leaders, including Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, will travel to Washington DC, only Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will visit the White House to participate in the annual shamrock ceremony. It is the first time in a decade that the parties have been excluded.

Yesterday, Mr Ahern also made his most definitive statement to date on the status of the IRA killers of Garda Jerry McCabe. He conclusively ruled out any early release deal as part of future negotiations.

Mr Ahern's intervention, in reply to Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, helped put to an end eight hours of intense horse-trading between the Government and opposition whips over a Fine Gael motion condemning Sinn Féin and the IRA for the robbery and calling on the Provisional movement to end all criminal and paramilitary activity.

The Government had sought all-party agreement on a counter-motion that would include proposals for finding a way forward.

However, it seemed likely to founder because Fine Gael believed the Government's wording relating to the killers was ambiguous and did not rule out the possibility of it being reintroduced at a later stage.

The Taoiseach's own contribution to the debate last night was more robust than expected. It is understood that Mr Ahern yesterday evening 'hardened' the line from earlier drafts, particularly in relation to last week's IRA statements.

In his contribution to the two-hour debate last night, he said of the IRA statements: "Threats, however implicit or subtle, have no place in a process of conflict resolution. They will certainly not intimidate the Government from doing its duty."

FG leader Enda Kenny also adopted a tough stance. "Sinn Féin has become accustomed to their mandate being disproportionately heard because it comes to us through a megaphone at the end of a gun."

Mr Rabbitte said the main obstacle to progress "appears increasingly to arise from the fact that Sinn Féin has used the peace process for its own political ends".

Sinn Féin is also expected to come under considerable pressure tomorrow as well as facing monetary sanctions with the publication of the International Monitoring Commission report on the robbery.