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American Influence in Northern Ireland
What role has past and present American administrations played in Northern Ireland, has their invovlement ever been more than just a token interest? Definetly, the United States has always maintained a certain level of involvement in the affairs of Northern Ireland. The country has close ties to both Britain, their closest political ally, and Ireland but until recently the U.S. has always been seen to favour the Nationalist position which has led to some disgruntlement from Unionists, especially when Senator George Mitchell was initially made the Chairman for the talks which led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The Americans have helped to shape the course of the future of Northern Ireland. As I've already mentioned George Mitchell was the mediator for the talks which led up to the Agreement and also took on a review of the implentation of the Agreement. Indeed the Clinton administration took a big interest in Ireland during his eight year reign, many article have been written about the "greening of the White House". President Clinton became the first US President to welcome Gerry Adams to the White House, a move that really irritated some Unionists but was generally met with a positive reaction. He visited Ireland as President to rapturous applause a few times during his reign and helped to shore up some support for the GFA which he vehemently endorsed but his influence was more than just a PR exercise, he always made himself available for helping with Northern Ireland and indeed held many phone calls with all the major players, Trimble, Adams, Hume, Ahern, Blair and Mowlam in a bid to escape various impasses in the process. The Irish and Ulster administrations took their good relations with the White House a little for granted during the Clinton era but things have changed considerably already in what are early days in the Bush administration.
GEORGE W. BUSH
When George W. Bush took over the Presidency from Bill Clinton it looked like Northern Ireland would be ignored and although U.S. involvement in the North has been less intensive than under the Clinton administration, they haven't completely ignored the North either. Relations between the Irish government and the US haven't been as cosy either and George Bush nearly snubbed Bertie Ahern by initially refusing to show for the annual St. Patrick's Day handing over of the bowl of shamrock but he later recanted. Relations between the US and Britain have stayed very solid, even intensified, during these early days of the Bush era and perhaps that has been relected in the shifting away from the American sympathies to the Nationalist position. It's widely believed that George Bush's stance on terrorism after the September 11 attacks was one of the principle reasons why the IRA decommissioned some of its arsenal. Sinn Fein have also felt the wrath of the tough new administration as George Bush expressed his anger at capture of Sinn Fein representatives in Colombia. George W. Bush himself seems to be taking little interest in the North but he's delegated an influential, veteran diplomat, Richard Haass, to oversee and determine the American position on the North
RICHARD HAASS
This veteran diplomat is George Bush's special advisor on Northern Ireland and he's not afraid to comment on the state of affairs in the North. Richard Haass is the man responsible for the shifting of America's position of Nationalist sympathiser to Unionist sympathiser and recently has made some clear pro-Unionist statements. This could be a political ploy as the Unionists feel they are under assault from all sides, an American ally might help restore confidence in the Union and the GFA. While he welcomed the IRA moves on decommissioning, it was a reserved welcome, he warned that this was "just a beginning and not the end". Under the Clinton administration this would have been hailed and unreserved applause would have been heaped on Gerry Adams but Haass's reaction was quite cold. Evidence of America's hardened attitude to Sinn Fein was clear recently when prominent SF MLA Conor Murphy was refused a visa to travel to the United States.
Will Haass's and Bush's policy on Northern Ireland have a harmful or beneficial effect on the process? I believe it will have a beneficial effect as the embattled Ulster Unionist Party need a close ally as they feel that the Irish and British governments have gone too soft on Sinn Fein and the IRA but only time will tell