February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“Our concern is with the peace process,” a U.S. State Department official said this week.
Asked whether the welcome mat would be taken up for Sinn Fein over the PSNI’s allegation of republican involvement in the robbery, the official said there was no immediate decision on the matter.
“It’s just too soon to make for any kind of judgment,” he said.
President Bush made personal appeals in November during telephone calls to the DUP leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, and Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams to restart the North’s political process.
It was Bush’s envoy to Northern Ireland, Dr. Mitchell Reiss, who suggested the photographing of IRA disarmament as a method to allay fears over putting weapons beyond use. Would it undermine those efforts if it was confirmed that the IRA had been involved in the bank heist?
“As long as there’s a peace process, the U.S. will be there,” the official reassured.
Sinn Fein’s lucrative fundraising ability in the U.S. is predicated on visa waiver applications and agreement by the White House to continue to allow the fundraising to take place. The official noted that decisions to continue to allow Sinn Fein here could be altered at any time.