Dermot Ahern briefs Bush govt on peace process
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern met the Bush administration for talks which included the effect of the Northern Bank robbery on the North's peace process.
Fallout from the Belfast robbery, blamed by police on the IRA, has already has brought moves towards full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement to a virtual standstill.
Ahern was in Washington yesterday discussing with Bush administration and congressional officials another possible ramification - reports that the administration will break with tradition and refuse to invite Sinn Féin and other of the North's politicians to the annual St Patrick’s Day observance at the White House.
Mr Ahern and An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will both attend.
Spokesmen at the State Department and the White House denied yesterday that a decision had been made on invitations.
On his first official trip to the United States since he became foreign minister in September, Ahern had lunch with Mitchell Reiss, a State Department official who acts as President George Bush’s part-time envoy to the North.
The State Department said they discussed the status of the peace process in the North and other international issues.
“This is clearly a difficult period for the Northern Ireland peace process. Trust among the parties is at low ebb and it will take time to restore confidence,” the department said in a statement.
It said the United States agreed with Britain and Ireland that “continued paramilitary activity and criminality is now the biggest obstacle to reaching a lasting settlement”.
Ahern was also meeting senators Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Patrick Leahy, John McCain and Edward M Kennedy; and the speaker of the House, Rep Dennis Hastert.
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