NORTHERN IRELAND: REISS CONSULTS WITH IRISH ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001827

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EI NIPP
SUBJECT: NORTHERN IRELAND: REISS CONSULTS WITH IRISH ON
NEXT STEPS; AMB RAISES SECURITY OF U.S. INTERESTS

REF: A. LONDON 9369

B. DUBLIN 1811

Classified By: Ambassador James C. Kenny for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) The President's Special Envoy for Northern Ireland,
Mitchell B. Reiss, traveled to Dublin on December 16 to
discuss next steps in the peace process with Irish officials.
Brendan Scannell, DFA Director of the Anglo-Irish Division,
expressed views similar to those heard in London (reftel).
Scannell talked about how close parties had come to a deal
and praised USG efforts, especially the President's telephone
calls to Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley. Scannell expressed the
view that a deal is still possible and contacts are
continuing; however, he indicated that everyone needed the
Christmas holiday to recover and to consider next steps.
Scannell talked about differences among the parties over
verification (photos),the need to specify more precisely the
role of the independent observers called for in the draft,
and the problem of criminality, which was brought to a head
when the IRA statement varied from the draft agreement.
Scannell said that the Irish government would need an
explicit commitment from Sinn Fein that it would forego
criminality. When Ambassador Kenny asked whether the IRA
deliberately left out any reference to criminality in order
to give itself some negotiating room, Scannell agreed that
this was likely part of the reasoning.


2. (C) Dr. Reiss also met Minister for Justice, Michael
McDowell, and MoJ Secretary General Sean Aylward. Aylward
and McDowell evinced a similar fatigue and the need among all
parties to use the Christmas break to cool down. While they
agreed with DFA's assessment of outstanding issues, they were
more caustic in their discussion of Sinn Fein. Minister
McDowell is from the Progressive Democrats (PD),the junior
partner in government and the party that immediately took to
the floor of parliament when the IRA statement was published.
PD demanded an end to criminality as part of a comprehensive
deal. He thus was more openly critical of Sinn Fein and the
IRA during his meeting with Reiss. During the meeting, news
of the conviction of the "Colombia Three" came in; unlike
later statements from the Foreign Minister, McDowell and
Aylward shed no tears at the news that the three IRA members
were convicted and given a 17-year sentence by Colombian
courts.


3. (C) In addition to discussion of Northern Ireland issues,
Ambassador Kenny raised USG concerns about the safety of
American interests in Ireland, including the Embassy.
Aylward said he took security of U.S. installations seriously
and would look into the matter, at the same time noting the
difficulty of protecting the large number of U.S. businesses
in Ireland. Aylward and the Ambassador discussed their
efforts to reach out to the Muslim community. The Ambassador
noted USG satisfaction that the lower house of parliament
finally passed counter-terrorism legislation (ref B). When
passed by the Senate, the legislation will give Ireland
better legal instruments with which to pursue terrorists.


4. (C) Comment: The Irish threw their heart and soul into
the peace process, beginning with Leeds. Their fatigue and
discouragement was apparent during Reiss' visit, as was their
commitment to continue to push for the deal. If a deal is to
be cut before the UK parliamentary elections, all pieces
would need to be in place by the end of March, in the GOI
view. At the moment, Sinn Fein has hurt its standing with
the GOI. The Prime Minister is taking serious political heat
because of massive opposition to including the release of the
killers of Garda (police officer) Gerry McCabe in a
comprehensive settlement. McCabe's killers were reportedly
"freelancing" IRA members. At the same time, Progressive
Democrats have gotten the government to agree that a clear
end to criminality is a necessary precursor to any deal.
News of the conviction of the Colombia Three certainly did
not help Sinn Fein either, and Gerry Adams' remarks to the
effect that no republicans were criminals were deemed absurd
and disingenuous at best. That said, Prime Minister Ahern
wants a deal and needs a deal. He is already focused on the
2007 election campaign, hoping to go into that election
saying that he helped put a comprehensive deal in place. END
COMMENT.


5. (U) Special Envoy Reiss has cleared this telegram.
KENNY