Sinn Fein Calls on Irish-Americans To Push U.S. To Convene North Ireland Assembly

The president of the Northern Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, yesterday called on Irish Americans in New York City to encourage the Bush administration to press the British government to follow through with provisions in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and convene the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has not met since October 2002. He said he would seek the president’s help at a meeting at the White House later this week.Last year, Mr. Adams was not invited to the White House St. Patrick’s Day celebration after several noted incidents of violence and robbery in Northern Ireland. It would have been hard for the president not to invite Mr. Adams this year after his role in helping convince the Irish Republican Army to agree last July to disarm.Speaking before a crowd of several hundred at St. John’s University, a historically Irish Catholic university in Queens, Mr. Adams said that convening the Assembly was the most important next step in the peace process. “The British government are still preventing the Assembly from functioning. … Before early summer, they have to permit the Assembly to come together. They have to allow the politicians to do our job of engaging them, developing them, representing our electorate.”The Assembly, which would have power to legislate over any matter not explicitly retained by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Westminster, was suspended after police raided Sinn Fein offices at Stormont, Belfast, as part of an investigation of alleged intelligence gathering on behalf of the IRA by members of the party’s staff. Though elections were held in November 2003, the assembly has not met since.Asked whether Sinn Fein would continue the economic policies of the present Irish administration were it elected the majority party in a unified Ireland, Mr. Adams said, “Because we’re a party that’s believed in equality, we would have a particular view that you judge the wealth of a nation not by how rich it is, but by how that wealth is used for all of the citizens. We would argue very, very strongly for equality in education and housing and health.”“Very clearly a lot of the political tension is that the main party fears the goals of Sinn Fein and has put that concern above other more important concerns,” he added in response to a question from The New York Sun.“Irish Americans are the most advanced section of our international community,” Mr. Adams said. “It’s a matter of common sense trying to get Irish America to use its influence in the White House.”Mr. Adams added that President Clinton had been a “pivotal” figure in the peace process, but said he was “baffled” by President Bush’s recent perceived lack of support for the Northern Irish republican cause.Though Mr. Adams will attend the White House party this year, the Bush administration has denied him a fundraising visa. The Friends of Sinn Fein returned all money collected through a fundraising breakfast scheduled for Thursday so that Mr. Adams can attend.Speaking to reporters before his address, the Northern Irish political leader said the economic flourishing of the Irish Republic would aid the cause of Irish unification.“The ‘Celtic Tiger’ has totally removed any nonsense that a reunited Ireland would be an impoverished nation,” he said. “It’s not feasible to cut off a piece of that and expect it to be economically viable,” he added.Mr. Adams is also scheduled to visit Boston, Toronto, and other cities during his annual St. Patrick’s Day trip to North America.

Sinn Fein Calls on Irish-Americans To Push U.S. To Convene North Ireland Assembly

Sinn Fein Calls on Irish-Americans To Push U.S. To Convene North Ireland Assembly

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