VISA DENIAL OF SINN FEIN MEMBER RITA O'HARE

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