THE meeting expected next week between the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, and the Northern Ireland Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, will not now take place.
And in Washington yesterday the new Secretary of State stoutly defended the US Ambassador to Ireland, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith. Reports from London that the ambassador was being recalled were completely untrue, Ms Albright said.
Ms Albright arrives in London from Brussels next Tuesday evening and departs for Moscow early the following Thursday. The Northern Ireland Office said yesterday the US authorities said there were timetabling and diary problems" over meeting Sir Patrick Mayhew.
The NIO confirmed it had hoped the meeting would take place but "we're looking forward to seeing her as soon as may be".
The Albright-Mayhew talks had been reported in the British press as portending a decisive shift in US policy on Northern Ireland. By giving "visible support" to the Northern Ireland Secretary by meeting him separately, Ms Albright would signal a move away from the White House policy of comparative openness towards Sinn Fein.
Diplomatic sources said last night that not meeting Sir Patrick reflected US anger over British reports that the White House intended to recall Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith from her post as Ambassador to Ireland. There was anger, too, over a "dirty tricks" story linking a senior US official romantically with a prominent Belfast republican.
Congressman Peter King told The Irish Times yesterday that Ms Albright's staff had told him that although Sir Patrick wanted to meet her this would not happen. He believed this was because of White House "real annoyance over the reports from London about the ambassador.
Ms Albright yesterday answered questions from Mr King at a Congressional hearing about the reports. She said they were completely untrue. The ambassador was not being recalled and she fully agreed with President Clinton's policy on Northern Ireland.
Ms Albright would meet the Prime Minister, Mr Major, with whom she could discuss Northern Ireland matters, a British spokesman in Washington said.