The US President's Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, Dr Mitchell Reiss, revealed yesterday that he had made a recommendation on the question of whether or not to invite Sinn Féin to the traditional St Patrick's Day reception at the White House. But he refused to say what advice he had given to President Bush on the matter.
The Bush administration, he said, had made "no official decision" as yet. He was taking part in a joint press conference at the Irish Ambassador's residence following a working lunch with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern.
Dr Reiss also revealed that Mr Gerry Adams called him a few weeks ago. "We talked for about 15 minutes or so, had a good conversation. Any time that the Sinn Féin leadership wants to contact me, it's very easy for them to do so, my door is always open to them.
"It is important, as the Taoiseach said, that we remain engaged, and so that's what I intend to continue to do with Sinn Féin," he said.
On the view of the Minister for Foreign Affairs that no party in the process should be allowed to feel itself victimised, Dr Reiss said: "Whether a political party portrays itself as a victim or not, that's their call, but that's certainly not my preference, that's certainly not what I intend to do."
President Bush, he said, was "looking forward to seeing Bertie Ahern again and to celebrating the enduring ties between our two countries". On Northern Ireland, it was clearly a "difficult period for the process".
Pointing to the progress made at the end of last year on power-sharing, policing and decommissioning, Dr Reiss said: "I believe that we can get back to a position where these issues will be resolved. Trust among the parties is now at a low ebb and it will take time to restore the level of confidence that's needed to settle these issues. I share the view of Prime Ministers Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair that the continuation of paramilitary activity and criminality is now the biggest obstacle to reaching a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland. I have been briefed by both governments on the December bank robbery in Belfast and have no reason to question their conclusion that it was done by the IRA."
Describing their meeting as having been "very good", Mr Ahern said: "I did not lobby Mitchell or his administration in relation to the issue of anyone being guests in the White House". This was "primarily a matter for the Bush administration". He had reiterated the Government's view that the Northern Bank raid, in effect, was a "huge knock on the trust and confidence of the Government, and of the Taoiseach, and that we needed to continue engagement", but obviously it had to be made clear that a number of issues still had to be resolved.
These were decommissioning and an end to paramilitarism and criminality.
"They are issues that other people have to address, not the governments," Mr Ahern said.