Inside File Party time on the Potomac

By Ray O’Hanlon

All aboard for the great Washington, D.C., St. Patrick’s Day party crawl. This being Bill Clinton’s last March 17 in the White House, there is a sense of a fading Raj in the nation’s capital, the passing of a green-tinged Arcadia and so on and so forth.

This sense of passing will be augmented by renewed British Embassy efforts to, one could say, broaden the appeal of a saint who saved the collective soul of a bygone, pre-partition Ireland, where lurked the kind of mucksavages that only a true-Brit priest would have the mettle to convert.

In other words, her majesty’s garrison on the Potomac is on the attack. Not only will there be a whopping lunch in the British Embassy on the 17th instant — the hottest ticket in town, some say — but there will also likely be a breakfast that morning hosted by Northern Secretary Peter Mandelson. Added to this epicurean pincer movement will be another lunch on the 16th, courtesy of the Northern Ireland Bureau, the Northern Ireland Office’s diplomatic outpost at the British Embassy. The NIB, in addition to laying on grub, has been sending out St. Patrick’s Day cards to the pure and clean depicting a statue of the saint in County Down — north of the wee border, lest we forget.

Against this onslaught of chardonnay, cold cuts, bonhomie, and not so subtle territoriality, the Irish Embassy will be offering the traditional St. Patrick’s evening reception following the big bash at the White House, a somewhat select affair this year with a shorter invitation list and a crowd that, "IF" hears, will more reflect the political needs of Hillary Clinton and Al Gore than ol’ Bill.

The Irish bash is still, in the eyes of most, the really hot ticket in town, regardless of what the British might say about their lunch. Such is the demand for a wee drop at the Irish ambassador’s residence this year that security is being employed for the very first time. The added X factor in all this frolicking is the fact that St. Patrick’s Day 2000 is on a Friday. The fallout on Saturday morning from so much unsaintly hedonism by the banks of the muddy Potomac could be quite a sight.

Bertie, Biffo and Liz

With the peace process in the doldrums and St. Patrick’s Day in Washington taking on the air of a political gathering way beyond bowls of shamrock, it’s no surprise that the Irish government will be sending in a political assault team of the highest caliber.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, fresh from his recce in the jungles of East Timor, will be arriving in D.C. from Australia, via San Francisco. The minister for foreign affairs, Brian "Biffo" Cowen, will be shuttling in from New York while the minister of state at foreign affairs, Liz O’Donnell, will be descending from Hong Kong. Such is the global reach of the Celtic Moggy these days. While the big three will be doing much flying, "IF" has been assured that none of them will be winging it once they hit the ground in D.C. Phew!

Billy Boy Al

Vice President Al Gore’s Irish roots apparently extend beyond the Gore-Booths of Sligo. "IF" made mention last week of an Ulster Unionist Party document, penned a few years back by Jeffrey Donaldson. The document, "The U.S.A. Effect" is a Unionist-eye view of Irish America and American politicians dealing with Northern Ireland. It includes an account of a meeting at one point along the winding peace-process road between a visiting Unionist delegation and Gore.

This was an important meeting for the Unionists, as the following words indicate: "The promotion of our common heritage is also an important aspect of our work in the United States. For years Irish Americans have used the cultural impact of events like St. Patrick’s Day to wheedle their way into the political system. Green beer and shamrock have become the order of the day in the White House on 17th March and the huge parades with prominent American politicians as ‘Grand Marshals’ have boosted the influence of the Irish Americans within the political establishment. The reality is though that over 60 percent of those Americans whose roots are on the island of Ireland are of Protestant Ulster-Scots extraction. They are the silent majority and we must endeavor to awaken this sleeping giant and provide them with a greater knowledge of their own unique cultural heritage which is quite distinct from the Southern Irish culture."

The document goes on to state that one example of how this could be done "arose in our first meeting with Vice President Al Gore." Given that Gore hailed from Tennessee, the visiting Unionists decided to present Gore with a portrait of the Andrew Jackson homestead in County Antrim.

"Jackson was also from Tennessee and was the seventh President of the U.S.A. and the first of Ulster extraction, so this was a subtle way of reminding the vice president of the tremendous contribution made by the Ulster people to the foundation of the American nation. At our next meeting with Mr. Gore he opened the conversation by telling us that his grandmother, whose family name was Denny, had come from Northern Ireland, ‘so I guess that makes me a Unionist,’ he said proudly."

Donaldson concluded on an upbeat note: "A relationship had now been established and cemented by this realization of our common heritage!"

Clearly, Gore was being polite and his sympathy for Unionist concerns was doubtless genuine. But it would be a stretch for any Unionist to believe that Gore is going to go tearing around America in the next few months in search of an Ulster-Scots vote. The fact is, Gore was assigned the "good cop" role with Unionists by his boss Bill Clinton over the last few years. That said, Gore’s probable ability to straddle the nationalist-unionist divide should come in handy if he is elected president in November.

Maggie’s cheek

The "IF" high cheek award for March, indeed the last few centuries, must go to Margaret Thatcher for her congratulatory message in the wake of Augusto Pinochet’s escape back to Chile. Said Maggie: "Your return to Chile has ensured that Spain’s attempts to impose judicial colonialism have been firmly rebuffed."

Rarely is "IF" at a loss for words, but the likes of Dame Maggie taking a swipe at "judicial colonialism" is an absolute gobsmacker.