The Orange Order and loyalists groups could still wreck the Northern peace process, the convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians warned yesterday, writes Joe Carroll.
Congressman Peter King, who was awarded the AOH John F. Kennedy Medal for his role in the peace process, said in Pittsburgh that while he hoped the Assembly could move forward, "there is tremendous potential for it not to work".
He said there was, unfortunately, a tremendous opportunity for those who were obstructing the peace process, such as the Orange Order.
There were also "those who have shown their true colours with the petrol-bombing of Catholic churches and the killing of the three Quinn children. This was not just people who happened to get carried away with the excesses of the moment but people who, unfortunately, are part of a long and dishonourable tradition in the north of Ireland."
Mr King told more than 1,000 AOH members at the convention: "We are not talking about people on the fringes of or outside of Northern Ireland society. We are talking about people in the very centre of society in Northern Ireland, people who for many years held extraordinary power to discriminate and oppress and to keep good people down."
He said it was essential that the US continue its involvement through President Clinton, Congress and the AOH "to ensure that outside pressure remains on the British government and those elected to the Assembly so that there is no intention of going back to the days when Catholics were denied basic civil rights and there was a `shoot-to-kill' policy in the streets and land and hills of Northern Ireland".
The incoming president of the AOH, Mr Thomas Gilligan, praised Mr King for encouraging President Clinton to press ahead with the peace process and for giving him "the confidence he needed".
Mr King was also hailed as "an American hero" for his opposition to abortion and for being "the champion of the oppressed in Ireland for over 30 years".
The opening Mass of the convention was concelebrated by Dr Sean Brady, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. In his sermon in St Paul's Cathedral, he struck a hopeful note for the future of the peace process: "We can only resolve our problems in Northern Ireland by resolving problems between Catholics and Protestants, between separatists and unionists."