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BRITISH OFFICIALS WERE “apoplectic” about the granting of a US visa waiver to Gerry Adams in 1994 but subsequently accepted it was “beneficial”.
Newly released state papers from the period demonstrate London’s opposition to the proposed US visa to the Sinn Féin president, with an Irish government document indicating that British officials said there would be “hell to pay” if the visa was granted.
Secret government documents are released annually under the 30-year rule and sent to the National Archives, providing journalists and historians with a fresh glimpse into historical events.
This year, even more recent files up to 1998 are also being released to bring the National Archives up to date with material released by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Two months before Adams’ visit to the US, the British and Irish governments outlined their common approach to the Northern Ireland peace process as part of the Downing Street Declaration.
It was argued that a visit by Adams to the US would allow him convince IRA supporters in the US to support the both governments’ plans and a ceasefire.
The documents show concerns among US officials about allowing Adams enter the US, with a member of the National Security Council saying there was a “strong resistance to him”.
President Bill Clinton intervened to ensure the visa was granted to Adams ahead of a conference in New York but the documents also show significant reluctance on the part of US officials.
The conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in February 1994 was organised by a US non-profit organisation and invited representatives from all the main parties in Northern Ireland.
Unionist parties declined to attend but Adams spoke at the conference along with John Hume of the SDLP and John Alderdice of the Alliance Party.
However, a private briefing memo sent by a civil servant to then tánaiste Dick Spring suggested the entire seminar may have been a “subtext” for Adams to apply for a visa.
The granting of the visa also provided Adams with an opportunity to speak to supporters of the republican movement in the US ahead of the first Provisional IRA ceasefire later that year.
In the letter to the Tánaiste, Spring was advised that the Irish government may be criticised by the Fine Gael-led opposition if it favoured granting the visa to Adams and criticised by Irish-Americans if they opposed.
The official position of the Irish government was that it was it was entirely a decision for US authorities to make, whereas the British government was said to be opposing the visa “with vehemence and determination”.
Nancy Soderberg of the US National Security Council was said to have told the Irish Ambassador in Washington that British officials were “apoplectic” about the consideration being given to Adams’ visa.
Concern over the granting of the visa was also evident among US officials however. Specifically, whether Adams would use the trip for fundraising purposes and due to the potential that he may “embarrass” the Clinton administration while in the US.
A record of one conversation between Irish embassy staff in Washington and Soderberg shows that the National Security Council was seeking that Adams would “make a public statement renouncing” violence.
Soderberg told Irish officials that there was ”blood on the floor” within the administration over the White House potentially speaking to Adams and that he must not underestimate the strong resistance to him, given that the IRA was still “blowing up buildings”.
Irish officials were told that there was a “genuine domestic sensitivity here about terrorism” in the context of the 1993 bomb at the World Trade Center and that Adams should appreciate the decision to speak to him was a substantial one.
Individuals involved in the 1993 bomb at the World Trade Centre were connected to Al-Qaeda and there have never been any suggestions that the IRA were linked to it.
The memo instead referenced the bomb as part of wider concerns about the visa.
Various papers show differing opinions on whether the visa should be granted, with the SDLP leadership split on whether it would be a positive move.
Party leader John Hume was in favour of US officials granting the visa waiver to Adams with SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon opposed.
Hume argued that the visa would help Adams to sell support of the Downing Street Declaration “to the more hardline elements” in the IRA.
In a meeting with US Vice President Al Gore in Washington, Gore told Hume the US administration had “taken a gamble” in issuing the visa and that Hume’s input was “vital”
Granting of the visa
Adams was granted a waiver on 30 January 1994 but the visa was “strictly limited” in duration and Adams was not permitted to be outside a 25 mile radius of the conference.
In a fax sent by the Irish Ambassador to the US informing the Irish government of the decision, it was recorded that the White House emphasised to the Irish Ambassador that it was a “difficult decision” to grant the visa to Adams not because of “British pressure” but because of “domestic terrorism politics”.
The comunique added that London was informed of the visa decision by way of a phone call to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“They seemed resigned to the decision and, while clearly not welcoming it, hoped it would help the process,” the Ambassador said in the fax.
Further documents show that British opposition to the visa decision remained following the decision.
This includes a letter from Prime Minister John Major to Taoiseach Albert Reynolds a week later in which Major said the US administration “must be regretting their decision to let him in” because Adams did not provide unequivocal support for the Downing Street Declaration in his speeches during the visit.
This anger at Adams’ visit waned over time and by June 1994 British Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler told Irish Ambassador to London Joseph Small that “the granting of the American visa was, with benefit of hindsight, on balance, beneficial.”
“Butler admitted that what hurt the British most in this case was the failure of the American administration to accept the advice of the British Government in the matter,” a report of the meeting states.
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Simon cowells mouth must be like Chernobyl
He looks like he swallowed a torch
This association has a vested interest in keeping a monopolisation of the industry due to the massive profits. Just compare their prices internationally ;)
Get your facts right Keith. The new regs are from the eu not the Irish dental association and they are intended to give people some protection from the sort of horrors you see on this article. And by the way, who should bleach teeth, if not qualified dentists like myself? Your monopoly argument is a lazy quasi left wing cheap shot at a profession which has taken a hammering during the recession and has had to accept it. Our patients have suffered even worse privations because of cutbacks. Kindly keep your ill informed rants to yourself.
While I dont agree with all of what Keith says, I disagree with what you say. The dental industry lobbies the EU commission etc to legislate. The reason the dental industry has suffered is because they are still charging celtic tiger prices. Until they cop on they will continue to suffer.
Inaccurate I’m afraid. Dental fees have dropped or remained static for several years. Suspension of prsi and rationalisation of med card schemes have caused a significant drop in revenue for practices while costs have not changed. I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for dentists, after all most of us still have our jobs but I’m not prepared to allow the profession to become an easy target for criticism. We are not recession proof.
Well said Cathal.
I want to see more dentists that help people keep their teeth through preventative dentistry.
I want to see oral hygiene taught in schools.
I want to see ways in which patients are made aware if and when they actually need dental treatment.
Teeth are very important living physical parts of a persons body.
How do you really know when your tooth needs to be drilled and filled??
Are you supposed to take the dentists word for it??
A separate practitioner should be available to patients, to evaluate their teeth/oral hygiene.
So that they are well informed about the state of their dental health, before they even consider approaching a dentist and his sharp implements.
Fluoride and floss! Teeth for life!
A separate practitioner?! There is nobody more qualified than a dentist to assess your oral health. You are entitled to go to a few dentists though for more opinions, something which I think is a good idea!
Crest whitening stripes…. That’s all.
I’ll stick with me tobacco coloured teeth so
Go on Journal.
Stop skirting around the edges of dental hygiene.
Go on, stick in an article that that reveals the deadly truth about the billions of metal fillings in peoples mouths throughout the world
Yes the ones that contain amalgam/mercury
Mercury, the substance thats listed as a deadly poison.
So poisonous that the the dentists that use them have to dispose of them through special hazardous waste management companies.
http://www.flcv.com/damsindx.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning
Wikipedia?? Solid evidence base. Good man. You can use Google. Back to your cage.
And you thought that the dentist wore the mask for your safety.
Mercury in fillings is in an inactive state. There is not one single solitary piece of evidence linking amalgam fillings to any systemic conditions. Not one.
Wikipedia.
Well I suppose you can check out Mercury poisoning in one of your your printed encyclopedias Paul.
Back in your cage?
We love your breath?
My breath is just fine Paul thank you.
Do you speak to your clients like that Paul?
Terrible after all those expensive years of training you found out that some people had bad breath?
Maybe you chose the wrong profession Paul?
I have questioned many dentists on these matters.
And they have confirmed to me that.
Most dentists are pro mercury/metal fillings
because a dentist needs a higher level of skill and time to place a white filling thus metal fillings are more profitable for the dentist and their greedy suppliers.
also
Because metal fillings don’t bond to the teeth (as white fillings do)
so a (very unnecessary deep dovetailed crater has to be drilled into the tooth to place the mercury filling
this leads to
loose fillings
unnecessary decay in the teeth
cracks in teeth
premature death of the nerve in the tooth
leading to (avoidable) deeper wider fillings or painful and expensive root canal treatment.
Crowns
Extractions
Bridges
Implants
And guess what?
More profits for the greedy dentists and their suppliers who ill inform their unknowing patients/victims/cash-cows.
Cross section of a mercury crater.
I am pro patient choice. Metal fillings are usually less expensive than white fillings. I will give patients the pros and cons of both materials. Ultimately it’s their choice. Personally I much prefer composite fillings. They look better and are a chance to show my skill and get “arty”. If patients choose amalgam, that’s also fine. I’ll carve that to the best of my ability.
Amalgam fillings do not cause unnecessary decay in teeth. You must be referring to secondary decay around a filling. This is caused by plaque bacteria, sugar and time. All dentists will agree, secondary decay is much less around an amalgam filling than a composite filling. Amalgam contains zinc which is highly anti bacterial.
Do you know the chemical constituents of composite?
When the metal filling cannot bond directly to the tooth,
a space is left,
a space where decay can thrive.
Over the last 35 years I have seen many teeth that were butchered by greedy dentists.
I have seen…..
The Mercury fillings.
The high speed high temperature drills (that fry the nerve in healthy teeth)
The long waiting lists from quiet dentists, pretending to be busy.
The greedy dentists more interested in the Drill Fill And Bill mantra than their patient’s health.
The numerous dentists drilling perfectly healthy teeth because it was a quiet week.
And I have even seen a “highly regarded” dentist advising a lady to have all her teeth pulled 24 years ago just before 2 of her children graduated
thank god she did not take his advice
and she still has her lovely teeth to this day.
I have seen
The pain.
The trauma.
People need to inform themselves about this legalized form of “For Profit” Butchery.
Here’s some advice and books from dentists themselves.
http://www.amazon.com/Save-Your-Teeth-David-Kennedy/dp/0913571040
http://www.wholebodymed.com
Lads can ye please reply to a different comment than mine. Jaysus . My original comment wasn’t even funny or insightful but now I have notifications thinking it might be a good reply and it ends up being tinfoil hat people. I’ll be grinding me teeth in me sleep again . Move along to another reply button please . Haha disaster
If you have the ability to place composite fillings with proficiency Paul and as you have said above, you actually prefer to place composite fillings,
Would you not consider practicing as a totally mercury-free dentist?
Advising your patients of how to avoid brutal conventional dentistry?
You only have to run a fork over a mercury filling to know that its not good for the patient.
Mercury is a metal
a highly toxic metal
metal corrodes
metal corrodes faster in a moist environment
metal corrodes even faster in a moist, salty environment
a patient’s mouth is moist and (more often than not) salty.
Mercury is one of the most poisonous substances known to man (hence the term Mercury poisoning).
Why bother putting it in peoples mouths??
If you could make cyanide or plutonium stable would you make fillings out of it because it was cheaper??
Smoking was killing people a long time before it was widely accepted that it was bad for people’s health.
This is also the case with mercury fillings.
The game is up on mercury.
I know you think you have to tow the party line for fear of the ensuing, malpractice lawsuits.
But some brave dentists have told the seedy, corrupt truth about the profession
I’m with them.
http://www.kemi.se/Documents/Publikationer/Trycksaker/PM/PM9_05.pdf
You don’t really come across as friendly and caring dentist do you Paul?
I will go mercury free when there is evidence it causes harm. Currently there is none. There is still a place for amalgam in modern dentistry although it is being used less mainly because patients are more image conscious now. You get more mercury from a tin of tuna fish!
High speed drills? Butchery? I think you will find that the high speed was an evolutionary step in dental practice. The high speed can remove caries quicker, and less invasively. This means less time in the chair for the patient and a more comfortable experience.
O.K Paul
Can you explain why dentists are not permitted to dump mercury/amalgam fillings along with standard household waste?
Granted the high speed drill was a big step from a slower hand drill ( and a great was for a dentist to maximise his profit margins)
However the friction and heat that many of us have frequently experienced in the dentists chair due to the high speed drill has damaged and killed manys the healthy tooth.
Low speed/low friction drills available for many years now, that most non mercury dentists use.
(patients should be made aware of this).
I don’t eat tinned tuna Paul.
A dentist needs to drill out more of the healthy tooth to place a poisonous mercury/metal filling, than when he is placing a composite filling (which bonds directly to the surface of the tooth)
( a fact that can be seen plainly, when white fillings are placed on front teeth)
this is a widely known fact in the dental industry.
Teeth (as are bones) are a living part of a persons body.
Do you explain these facts in detail to all your patients Paul?
What is your opinion on the effect that Metals in the body have on the nervous system.
Do you think that these metals disturb the signals that the body relays through the nervous system Paul?
Seen as metal is a conductor?
High speed gets through enamel. Slow speed does not get through enamel but removes infected dentine which all dentists use. How does a non metal dentist prepare a tooth for a crown? low speed drill? No! that would be hugely uncomfortable. Of course this is explained to patients. The risk of non vitality after procedures is explained. White fillings are a lot more minimal of course, something that i agree with you. Amalgams though do have a greater longevity and survive a lot longer than composite, something that in recession times, is an important consideration for some patients. Dentists have an ethical and moral obligation to explain everything to patients to enable them to make an informed consent regarding their treatment. Are you a dentist?
The aim should be that preventive care advances sufficiently so that the need for fillings is diminished.
My dentists (as I always use a couple for a 2nd opinion) use a drill the minimizes heat to a tooth.
The metal fillings last longer but only according to the dentists that use them,
however the teeth that are mutilated to house them do not.
The metal filling lasts virtually forever but the poor tooth does not (mainly due to the larger than adequate crater created to house the metal filling)
Also you did not mention that the patients teeth which chew against the metal filling are softer than the metal filling,
thus the metal filling wears the natural teeth in the patients mouth prematurely and unnecessarily.
The composites are softer and of more similar density to natural teeth
thus cause less wear to the natural teeth in the patients mouth.
I have many composites that have lasted 12 years+ and are still going strong.
Metal seems to be far too rigid, to be cohesive with human teeth.
You can’t be serious when you say that Mercury is cheap in recessionary times.
I have seen to many healthy teeth go down the
Small Mercury Filling
Larger Mercury Filling
Larger Mercury Filling
Root Canal
Crown
Extraction
Bridge/Implant
Path
A path which costs the patient thousands of Euros.
Without even taking into account the cost of the side effects.
“The aim should be that preventive care advances sufficiently so that the need for fillings is diminished”
“SHOULD” being the active word Paul.
Now you’re just plain wrong. They have similar wear rates and do not damage opposing teeth. How do your mercury free dentists restore a cavity with decay below the gum line? Do you think composite will bond to a tooth in this moist environment? No. It won’t. I recommend you read some evidence based articles and channel your commendable thirst for knowledge into the correct route and not quackery in the form of websites and books from amazon that retail for $1.50.
The majority of cavities are above the gum line.
The entire interior surface of the mouth is moist.
Are you suggesting that a mercury free dentist would leave a cavity beneath the gum line untreated?
or resort to filling it with mercury as you imply?
Quakery?
I’m sorry Paul but the majority of the books and research available on the hazards of mercury and conventional dentistry is produced by dentist themselves.
Reputable,very Brave dentists who were not afraid to rock the boat.
Firstly, please cease from reporting my Facebook account and trying to temporarily disable it. Secondly, these reputable dentists, do they replace their patients’ existing amalgam fillings with white fillings for free? Or do they capitalise on this scare mongering and perhaps charge for replacing them for no reason? The latter, I suspect.
I do not have a Facebook account .
Please explain why you say that?
The non mercury dentists I have used over the years charged for their services and I have gladly paid them in full, as they done their best to avoid invasive brutal conventional treatment.
After a youth of dreading conventional dentistry,
its constant lust for
drilling
billing
filling
the smell of burning tooth enamel
the misinformation
the total lack of information
the chewing on the cotton rolls
the painful jabs
the dentists bad breath
etc
etc
etc
I find a visit to a non mercury/holistic dentist these days is something to look forward to.
Sometimes just for a bit of advice and a clean,scale and polish.
These dentists deserve all the business they can get, especially because they have to be subject to abuse and being labelled “quacks” by the likes of you and your limited perspective.
You say that you that “Dentists have an ethical and moral obligation to explain everything to patients to enable them to make an informed consent regarding their treatment”
Paul
As me being a potential customer of your dental practice,
and I required a filling,
please give me an example of how you would explain to me the difference between a mercury filling and a composite filling so that I may make an informed decision on my treatment.
You might suggest some books that you might recommend to a patient seeking advice on their dental health and how to keep their teeth for a lifetime.
So your treatment plan for a small cavity would be to skip straight to extraction and implant? Stop spamming this comment thread with obvious nonsense. I don’t know why I can’t revisit feeding trolls here…
*resist
In my opinion the only people who should be anywhere near teeth are dentists.
Just let Darwinism take its course..if people are so stupid as to chemically burn their own mouth then maybe they are too stupid to pass that gene on and the whole world will benefit :)
Sorry, Bronagh, you don’t understand the first thing about Darwinism.
I think she understands the basics
If you try to pass on your genes with your mouth, you’re doing it wrong.
I use hydrogen peroxide as a mouth wash ( a dash of 6% in half a glass of water). It should be cheap cause it’s only water with an extra oxygen molecule attached (H2O2) but mine cost over 2 euro from a chemist in swords for a tiny bottles. I’ll be buying online next time or making my own.
How do you keep that off your gums?
Making your own eh? Do let us know how that works out.
Activated Charcoal works unbelievably well . The tannines in tea and coffee are attracted naturally to the charcoal , after 4 or 5 applications your teeth are gleaming and it’s safe and dirt cheap , try it you will be surprised!
Charcoal. Is black. So the brown tannin is attracted to the black coating on your teeth and becomes white?
Historically charcoal was one substance used to clean tooth. Check out the link
http://www.toothpasteworld.com/history.php
The groupon and similar discount company deals should be avoided at all costs, unless that is that you want the enamel of your teeth stripped off to nothing. There’s a reason there’s a cost to get this procedure done at a dentist etc…
have your say