State Papers: US senator Jesse Helms wanted Sinn Féin branded a terrorist organisation if ceasefire broke down

Senator Jesse Helms with U2 front man Bono in 2005

December 31 2022 

Firebrand US Senator Jesse Helms demanded that President Bill Clinton designate both the IRA and Sinn Féin as terrorist organisations if the renewed IRA ceasefire was ever broken.

The demand by the conservative North Carolina senator came after “a less than helpful” security briefing from the US Embassy in London.

The revelation came in secret documents released as part of the State Archive.

A confidential note from the Irish Embassy in Washington, dated October 21 1997, briefed Department of Foreign Affairs officials in Dublin on a letter sent by Sen Helms to President Clinton.

As the Northern Ireland peace process neared a highly sensitive time with the IRA confirming a renewed ceasefire on July 20 1997, the letter was viewed with some concern by Irish diplomats.

“You will note that the senator draws heavily on a security status report received from the US Embassy in London,” it advised.

“The document states that the threat level in London ‘stems from bombings in the UK attributed to the Provisional IRA. The report is quoted as as suggesting that, despite the ceasefire, ‘the danger.... of injury by being in the vicinity of a bombing remains a risk’.”

Irish diplomats noted that the security briefing from the US Embassy in London came as part of a routine request.

“Larry Butler of the NSC confirmed that it is standard practice for US Embassies to provide such security reports on overseas locations in response to requests from Congressional committees.

“He (Butler) was not aware of the Helms letter when I mentioned it, but was inclined to regard the material from the US Embassy in London as standard output from the security and protection side of the Embassy.

“It will be recalled that there have been occasions in the past when the Embassy’s interventions have been less than helpful.

“It was at least ironic that this (sloppy formulation) was now being used as a stick with which to beat the administration’s own carefully thought through position.”

Irish officials noted that Sen Helms’ key demand was that President Clinton give an assurance that if the IRA ceasefire was broken in future, both the PIRA and Sinn Féin would be designated as terrorist organisations by the US.

Sen Helms was one of the most conservative of Republican senators and adopted far-right positions on civil rights, environmentalism, disability rights, abortion, gay rights and Latin America.

He retired in 2003 as the longest-serving senator in North Carolina history and is credited as one of those most responsible for the resurgent conservatism across the US.