IT could have been just another Irish American sentimental evening, Frank Patterson singing Ireland, Mother Ireland to a midtown Manhattan ballroom in a hotel that marks Eamon de Valera's birthplace.
But the sniffer dogs and the Secret Service agents told a different story. As Patterson began God Bless America, Vice President Al Gore walked in, the man a heartbeat from the most powerful job in the world.
He was here to address the Irish American Presidential Forum 96 on the concerns of the Irish American community in the November 5th election. The forum goes back to the 1988 election when former Vice President Walter Mondale came to the Bronx to speak to it.
Four years ago, then Governor Bill Clinton attended and the commitments he gave that evening were to influence the Northern Ireland peace process profoundly and pave the way for the IRA ceasefire.
With a president in the White House determined to address the Northern Ireland problem independently of the State Department British Embassy policy line, changes were inevitable.
First there was a visa for Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, months before the IRA ceasefire and in defiance of the advice of the State Department and London. Then there was the continuing engagement in the secret negotiations leading to the ceasefire by the President's national security adviser, Tony Lake, and his assistant, Nancy Soderberg.
The ceasefire and President Clinton's trip to Belfast were a dream come true for the influential Irish Americans who had worked so hard to bring Sinn Fein into the political mainstream.
The ceasefire breakdown and the resumption of the IRA bombing campaign shattered the dream. But Irish American anger was directed more at British footdragging than the IRA. The White House which had proudly listed Northern Ireland as one of the Clinton foreign policy achievements began to downplay it. But Lake and Soderberg kept the political lines open to Adams.
The appointment of former
Senator George Mitchell to chair the peace talks has provided President Clinton with a valuable inside track on the tortuous curse of the Stormont negotiations. Whatever the US can do to broker a new IRA ceasefire will be done.
That was the message the Vice President brought to Loew's Hotel on Thursday. The loudest applause came when he said "ideally ... Sinn Fein should be sitting at the same table" with the nine other political parties and the two governments.
When Mr Gore added that Sinn Fein could only be at that table when the ceasefire was restored and when all agree that those who preach violence are given no legitimate voice in deciding Northern Ireland's future", there was no reaction. Such a line delivered by a US vice president would have drawn enthusiastic applause if spoken before Irish politicians.
One senses a bewilderment among Irish Americans over the real relationship between post ceasefire Sinn Fein and the IRA This is coupled with bitterness to what is seen as unforgivable British delay in responding to the ceasefire.
As for the Unionist position Drumcree and the perceived posturing of David Trimble blew away whatever hope there was among Irish Americans that they would compromise to reach a political settlement.
What a re elected President Clinton can do to square all these circles is unclear. But in the words of the Irish Voice editorial this week he has "provided leadership unparalleled in the history of the American presidency on the issue of Northern Ireland". Defeat for him would be seen as disastrous for the peace process.
What difference would a Dole Republican presidency make? An Ancient Order of Hibernian questionnaire to both candidates revealed virtually no difference in support for the peace process.
A Republican party foreign policy briefing document states: "Bill Clinton's perfectly willing to make deals with terrorists if he thinks it will help him get elected. At Clinton's White House, IRA terrorist Gerry Adams is a welcome guest."
Dole and his adviser, former Secretary of State Jim Baker, have adopted a similar line, much to the despair of New York Congressman Peter King. He was the only Republican politician on the platform at this week's forum and remains one of Gerry Adams's strongest supporters.
King was one of those Republicans who have tried for over a year to organise "Irish Americans for Dole Kemp" to match the "Irish Americans for Clinton Gore" machine only to see Dole and Baker sabotage their efforts.
Dole's running mate, Jack Kemp, was supposed to address the forum but this seems most unlikely now. The forum is a Clinton Gore lobby. Kemp would have been given a polite hearing but that's all.
Maybe Frank Patterson would have sung an Irish lament.