Democrats claim Bush failed NI

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr Terry McAuliffe, has called the Republican Party's treatment of Irish issues…

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr Terry McAuliffe, has called the Republican Party's treatment of Irish issues "smoke and mirrors and no substance".

In a statement responding to the policy platform of the Republican convention in New York on Monday, Mr McAuliffe said: "Over the past 3½ years, George Bush had the opportunity to move the peace process forward in Northern Ireland, but time and time again he failed to provide the leadership needed.

"A comparison of the 2004 and 2000 Republican platforms shows that George Bush has walked away from his commitments to Irish-Americans and the Northern Ireland peace process. In 2000, the Republicans promised a review of the deportation issue, but deportations continue regularly and there is no evidence that a review has been conducted.

"Now they are reaffirming America's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, but fail to acknowledge that since George Bush became president no progress on this issue has been made." During the Clinton years former IRA members living as undocumented immigrants in the US were not deported, but this policy has changed under the Bush administration.

READ MORE

The Republican platform praised Mr Bush's use of US "prestige and influence" to support the efforts to achieve a lasting and peaceful settlement in the North. It endorsed his "personal reaffirmation of America's commitment to the Good Friday agreement and to its full and complete implementation, as expressed during his visit to Northern Ireland in April 2003."

Mr McAuliffe said: "All George Bush has to offer Irish Americans are platitudes, broken promises and personal neglect of the Northern Ireland peace process. John Kerry and John Edwards are committed to the resumption of genuinely active, high-level participation in the Northern Ireland peace process."