Clinton adviser calls on IRA to renew ceasefire

THE United States National Security Adviser, Mr Tony Lake, has said that the IRA should resume its ceasefire immediately. He also said that Mr Gerry Adams had been granted a new US visa so that he could hear how much Irish Americans wanted peace.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Bob Dole has criticised the White House decision to issue a new visa to the Sinn Fein president in the absence of an IRA ceasefire. Mr Dole, the leading Republican presidential contender, said in a New York newspaper: "My view was we should have had a ceasefire first."

Mr Lake defended the issuing of the visa as a way of helping Mr Adams to press the IRA for a new ceasefire.

The IRA demand for an unqualified date for all party talks had now been met by the British and Irish governments, he told reporters in Washington. "The IRA should reconstitute the ceasefire and reconstitute it today."

Asked on NPR radio why the visa had been issued after the London bombings, Mr Lake said that Mr Adams would not be raising funds or going to the White House, as he had done previously, so long as there was no ceasefire in place.

"One of the important reasons for him to be here is so that he can hear from Irish America that Irish America, like the people of Northern Ireland, want peace, they want the ceasefire back in place", Mr Lake said.

Mr Adams, who is due to arrive in New York on Tuesday, will attend a peace rally in the Bronx and a reception in the Plaza Hotel before travelling to Washington. He is expected to be a guest at the Ireland Fund dinner in the US capital on March 14th, to which the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, has also been invited. The dinner will honour Congressman Ben Gilman, a co chairman of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs.

Mr Adams will attend a Friendly Sons of St Patrick dinner in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on March 16th before returning to Belfast.

The Taoiseach will be guest of honour at a lunch given by Speaker Newt Gingrich on March 14th and at a White House reception hosted by President Clinton for over 500 guests on March 15th.

Unlike last year, Mr Adams has not been invited to either function because the IRA ceasefire is not in effect.

On Monday, President Clinton is due to make a major speech on Ireland when he receives a peace trophy as Irish American of the Year from Irish America magazine at the Plaza Hotel, New York.