Gerry Adams removed from terrorist watch list

Published 30 March 2006

Six congressmen with Irish constituencies managed to have Sinn Fein leaders’ name removed from watch list; other former IRA operatives are not so lucky

N”l m”n Gaeilge agam, ach … Irish-American members of Congress will campaign to have Sinn Fein staff members removed from the U.S. government’s terrorist watch list. At the meeting with DHS, staff from the Transport Security Administration (TSA) said that Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams had been removed from its terrorist watch list, but Representative Brian Higgins (D-New York) said that Sinn Fein staff members remained on the list and that he and other members of the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on Irish affairs would fight to have their names removed. He said TSA staff confirmed that Adams had been on a “selectee” list of people who are not considered a direct terrorist threat but who must undergo further inspection before flying.

Adams had been expected to join Higgins at St Patrick’s Day festivities in Buffalo, New York, before he was stopped at Dulles. The detention came just hours after Adams visited the White House and posed for photographs with President George Bush.