Newly declassified records have revealed that White House officials actively hoped to prevent a public handshake between US President Bill Clinton and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams during a historic 1995 visit to Northern Ireland.
The Historic Visit and a Controversial Greeting
In November 1995, Bill Clinton became the first serving US president to visit Northern Ireland. The trip was a pivotal moment in the peace process. On the morning of 30 November 1995, on Belfast's Falls Road, President Clinton and Gerry Adams famously shook hands in front of the world's media.
However, documents released by the National Archives of Ireland show this iconic moment was not what American diplomats had planned. A letter from Irish official David Donoghue written ahead of the visit stated clearly that "the Americans would prefer to avoid a handshake photograph between the president and Adams".
This was because Adams, who was president of Sinn Féin from 1983 to 2018, led a party widely regarded as the political wing of the IRA paramilitary group. Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA.
Diplomatic Pressure and Ancestral Claims Debunked
The records confirm that Clinton was under significant pressure from the then British Prime Minister, John Major, not to give Adams a warm reception. Earlier in 1995, the pair had met at the White House, but they only shook hands after photographers had left the room.
Clinton later described the public handshake in Belfast as a "big deal", saying it felt as though "the pavement was about to crack open".
The declassified files also included a genealogical report that debunked long-standing claims about President Clinton's Irish ancestry. Genealogist Sean Murphy was commissioned to investigate assertions that Clinton had Cassidy ancestors from County Fermanagh.
Murphy concluded that the link to Co Fermanagh was "based largely on fantasy". He traced the president's earliest known maternal ancestor to Zachariah Cassidy, born in South Carolina around 1750-1760. While it was reasonable to speculate about Ulster origins, Murphy found no evidence to support the specific Roslea claim.
Ongoing Revelations from the Archives
The National Archives of Ireland releases batches of declassified files annually, typically relating to events from 30 years prior. Last year's release showed that former US Attorney General Janet Reno had strongly advised against granting Adams a temporary visa in 1995, citing a lack of evidence of IRA disarmament.
These documents collectively shed new light on the delicate diplomatic balancing act performed by the Clinton administration as it sought to support the Northern Ireland peace process while managing relationships with the UK government and addressing domestic political concerns.
