A SENIOR US government official said yesterday that the US ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, retained the full support of President Clinton and the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright.
The State Department spokesman, Mr Nicholas Burns, was responding to questions about reports in the British press that Ms Kennedy Smith was going to be recalled from her Dublin post because of a change in US policy towards Northern Ireland and the peace process.
Mr Burns said at the daily briefing that the ambassador "retains the full and unequivocal support of the President and Secretary of State Albright. There have been no decisions by the Administration to recall her because of any perceived dissatisfaction as to how the peace process has gone."
Asked about the US handling of the peace process, Mr Burns said the administration supported the position of both governments "that there's no seat at the table for organisations like the IRA or Sinn Fein that do not renounce violence."
Asked if the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, would be granted another visa waiver, Mr Burns said that was "very much a hypothetical question." He said: "I'm not aware that Mr Adams has applied for a visa to visit the United States." He added that he thought that Mr Adams and members of his organisation understood the clear position of the US.
A White House spokesman, Mr David Johnson, said at his briefing in response to similar questions that there were no plans to recall Ms Kennedy Smith.
"The US maintains its intense interest, which starts at the President, in doing whatever we can to help the people of Ireland to find peace. Suggestions that we are considering sharp changes in our policy are also false," he said.