Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was refused access to the White House for the annual Patrick's Day event hosted by President Barack Obama. As he sat outside in the lobby awaiting a decision a sketch artist captured him in a posture that showed his nose as being out of joint by what he felt was a calculated snub designed to put him at the back of the bus.


President Adams is reported to have told Sinn Fein First Lady Merry Woo McDonald that it was contrary to presidential protocol and etiquette and wholly inappropriate for one president to treat another in such a demeaning fashion.  The President of Peace had been expecting an audience with the President of the United Sates which he was duly entitled to courtesy of their shared statesman status.

It is the second year in a row that President Adams has found himself on the receiving end of US disapproval. Last year after travelling to the States President Adams complained "that he wasn’t invited to any high level meetings with the president or high officials, instead being consigned to the general reception with the hoi polloi." Still, on that occasion he put his time to good use by meeting the building janitor who, according to President Adams, in a very important development berated President Obama for not being helpful to the peace process.

After yesterday's embarrassment Merry Woo McDonald told reporters that:

We have long struggled for equality and  presidents should be on an equal footing. But the US have a history of doing this to people who support the peace process in their own respective countries. The Salvadoran politician Roberto D'Aubisson, once described by that country's president as a man who "always supported very openly the peace process" was on occasion snubbed by US authorities as well. Gerry and Bob have made stellar contributions to peace and if we fail to acknowledge this by pampering them on the White House lawn others, not them of course, could go back to doing what they do best.


The real problem seems to have been much less serious than the political snub Merry Lou and some media gloats have been making it out to be. President Adams appears not to have been denied access to the White House bash because of any high level decision. Security staff on the ground were confused after President Adams denied being the Gerry Adams whose details were contained in passport he submitted to security.

All a minor mistake really, a trivial pursuit for dissident journalists, elements unhelpful to the peace process, ne'er-do-wells, begrudgers and naysayers.


All The President's Men ... Bar One

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was refused access to the White House for the annual Patrick's Day event hosted by President Barack Obama. As he sat outside in the lobby awaiting a decision a sketch artist captured him in a posture that showed his nose as being out of joint by what he felt was a calculated snub designed to put him at the back of the bus.


President Adams is reported to have told Sinn Fein First Lady Merry Woo McDonald that it was contrary to presidential protocol and etiquette and wholly inappropriate for one president to treat another in such a demeaning fashion.  The President of Peace had been expecting an audience with the President of the United Sates which he was duly entitled to courtesy of their shared statesman status.

It is the second year in a row that President Adams has found himself on the receiving end of US disapproval. Last year after travelling to the States President Adams complained "that he wasn’t invited to any high level meetings with the president or high officials, instead being consigned to the general reception with the hoi polloi." Still, on that occasion he put his time to good use by meeting the building janitor who, according to President Adams, in a very important development berated President Obama for not being helpful to the peace process.

After yesterday's embarrassment Merry Woo McDonald told reporters that:

We have long struggled for equality and  presidents should be on an equal footing. But the US have a history of doing this to people who support the peace process in their own respective countries. The Salvadoran politician Roberto D'Aubisson, once described by that country's president as a man who "always supported very openly the peace process" was on occasion snubbed by US authorities as well. Gerry and Bob have made stellar contributions to peace and if we fail to acknowledge this by pampering them on the White House lawn others, not them of course, could go back to doing what they do best.


The real problem seems to have been much less serious than the political snub Merry Lou and some media gloats have been making it out to be. President Adams appears not to have been denied access to the White House bash because of any high level decision. Security staff on the ground were confused after President Adams denied being the Gerry Adams whose details were contained in passport he submitted to security.

All a minor mistake really, a trivial pursuit for dissident journalists, elements unhelpful to the peace process, ne'er-do-wells, begrudgers and naysayers.


1 comment:

  1. Next year Adams is going to the holy lands to make sure he gets the not the party.

    ReplyDelete