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