Gerry Adams has been in the company of American president for many years but this was not the case at the White House St. Patrick’s Day reception yesterday. In this RollingNews.ie photo from 2000, Adams is in the company of President Bill and Hillary Clinton, and then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has described as “unacceptable” the refusal to allow him entry to the White House for yesterday’s White house St. Patrick’s Day reception, the last to be hosted by President Obama.
Adams was stopped by the Secret Service and told to step aside from the line of guests that typically trails back into the Washington streetscape from the White House east entrance.
After ninety minutes of waiting, Adams departed.
Said Adams in a statement: “I had received my usual invitation to attend the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the White House and was pleased to accept.
“When I arrived the staff at the White House informed me that there was an issue of ‘security.’
“After two decades of travelling back and forth to the USA and countless meetings in the White House with successive U.S. Presidents, this is an unacceptable development.
“It is obvious that there remain some within the U.S. administration who seek to treat Sinn Féin differently.
“Some of our political representatives have been denied access to the USA while others, including myself, have to regularly go through additional searches and scrutiny when we travel to and from the USA.
“Last year the State Department initially refused to meet me as part of a transparent effort to pressurize Sinn Féin during negotiations at Stormont.
“That meeting did take place after protests from U.S. political leaders. Efforts to pressurize us in the negotiations failed.
“This morning Martin McGuinness, Mary Lou McDonald and I met with the Congressional Friends of Ireland.
“They too shared our grave disappointment at the White House situation and expressed their determination to have this issue resolved.
“Sinn Fein will not sit at the back of the bus for anyone. We are elected to represent citizens and we will do this. I am hopeful that the controversy around my White House invitation will help lead to a resolution of all these matters.”
