US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN680

S E C R E T DUBLIN 000680 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/UBI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, PTER, UK, EI, NIPP 
SUBJECT: VISA DENIAL OF SINN FEIN MEMBER RITA O'HARE 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES KENNY for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (S) In May,  the USG reversed past practice and denied a 
visa to Rita O'Hare, who serves as Sinn Fein's U.S. 
representative.  As is well-known, Rita O'Hare, like most of 
the Sinn Fein leadership, was a member of the IRA and she is 
wanted in the UK for an attempted murder in 1971.  The USG 
has always known that but made the decision, at the highest 
levels of government, to engage with Sinn Fein as a means of 
advancing the peace process in Northern Ireland.  The peace 
process continues and while no final agreement has been 
reached, the IRA has been on cease-fire for ten years.  The 
visas for Sinn Fein, including for Rita O'Hare, are issued 
with the active support of both the Irish and UK governments. 
 The Irish government repeatedly urges us to continue to 
issue the visas because they think Sinn Fein's positions are 
moderated by their travel to the U.S., and that Sinn Fein 
builds support for its engagement in the peace process among 
those in the U.S. who are more radical. 
 
2.  (S) If the denial is not based on credible reports of 
current terrorist activity and is instead based upon her 
well-known past, then the USG should not so hastily reverse 
ten years of a policy formulated at the highest levels of the 
USG, a policy that has brought ten years of peace to our 
closest ally.  There was an incident in which Rita O'Hare 
diverged from her itinerary at the request of  a 
distinguished American citizen.  She was scheduled to meet 
him in New York; he has told us directly that he was delayed 
in Florida and asked her to fly to see him there. 
 
3.  (S)  USG interests in granting a waiver of ineligibility 
are the same now as they have been the last dozen or so times 
when Rita got a visa.  New people may just now be becoming 
aware of old facts, but this in itself should not cause a 
change in policy. 
 
--  We believe the exclusion this last time did not serve our 
interests.  Rita is an important player in the peace process. 
 Our contact with her has given the USG advance information 
of Sinn Fein actions, and has given us a conduit to the top 
-- in support of Washington's, Belfast's, and London's 
efforts -- for tough messages from the USG about the need for 
the provisional movement to pursue solely peaceful political 
means and for the IRA to decommission, end its criminal 
activity and get off the scene. 
 
--  Rita will probably apply for another visa within a few 
weeks.  We would support her request for a waiver.  If she 
applies in the context of movement by the IRA, reasons for 
her going to the U.S. would become even more potent. 
 
--  We strongly advise the Department to seek an 
understanding in advance that 1) she poses no greater threat 
to the peace in the U.S. than she has for the last 6-7 years, 
2) that her fully explained behavior on her trip to the 
States earlier this year has in fact been punished by the 
waiver refusal this time around, 3) there is no reason to 
continue to exclude her and many policy reasons to allow her 
in, and that 4) Rita's waiver will be granted when she 
applies. 
KENNY