Support for IRA in US is raised as Adams seeks a visa

Questions about support for the IRA from American sympathisers have been raised here as the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams…

Questions about support for the IRA from American sympathisers have been raised here as the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, prepares to apply for a visa to raise funds in the US next month.

But Sinn Fein officials here insist that fund-raising operations in the US are fully reported as legally required and have no connection with the IRA.

Mr Adams will have to apply for a waiver to the State Department before being given a visa because he is excluded from entering the US on account of previous convictions. It is believed that, following the latest IRA ceasefire, Mr Adams will be granted the waiver.

The Friends of Sinn Fein organisation in the US is planning a $500-a-head fund-raiser in New York's Plaza Hotel and a big rally for supporters when Mr Adams, Mr Martin McGuinness and Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain visit the city on September 5th. The three will earlier visit Washington to meet officials at the White House and to "thank" supporters in Congress, according to the head of the Sinn Fein office, Ms Mairead Keane.

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The IRA is reported to be on a draft list of terrorist organisations being drawn up under a law passed last year. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in Congress, Mr Henry Hyde, has written to the Secretary of State complaining about the delay in drawing up the list of terrorist organisations and any links they may have with supporters in the US.

Congressional aides are reported in the Washington Times as saying that the delay is because the FBI's draft is not "politically correct" and includes the IRA. Mr Hyde, a Republican, has said that listing US support groups for the IRA could be "politically sensitive" but is necessary.

The report says "many US political leaders have been reluctant to criticise IRA supporters for fear of alienating Irish-American voters, especially in New York and Massachusetts". The newspaper says that "two groups in the US that British officials suspect have backed IRA terrorists are Friends of Sinn Fein and the Irish Northern Aid Committee, known as Noraid. The groups raised about $1.5 million in 1995 and 1996 from US supporters, a diplomat said".

The president of Friends of Sinn Fein, Mr Larry Downes, said they raise funds solely for Sinn Fein purposes in Ireland - about $1.7million since March 1995, which has been fully reported under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The leaders of the Irish Northern Aid Committee are touring Northern Ireland and were unavailable for comment. They have not filed returns since 1991, a Justice Department official said.

A State Department official said it was "very likely" that the IRA would be on the final list as it has "openly claimed responsibility for acts that would be regarded as terrorist". But he said the new law "would not necessarily affect Gerry Adams in any way as no organic link is demonstrable in a legal sense between Gerry Adams and the IRA".