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Left: George D. Schwab, president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Above: William J. Flynn, Gerry Adams, George D. Schwab, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke.
also with enemies. My immediate task was to find a hook that would accord with the NCAFP’s mandate to help friends and enemies resolve conflicts that impinge on U.S. national security. On the surface the Troubles appeared idiosyncratic, but not when one actually analyzed the situation: Britain at the time was beset by a deep economic downturn and could ill afford to spend between six and seven billion dollars annually in Northern Ireland on a population of about one and a half million people. It was only a matter of time until an expenditure of that magnitude would affect Britain’s commitments to NATO, the Middle East, and elsewhere where British interests parallel those of the United States. Bill handled the Executive Committee meeting brilliantly, and following very spirited discussions the Committee finally went along and the ad appeared. Invitations went out to Adams, Molyneaux, and Paisley, as well as to John Hume, leader of the Social Democratic and Labor Party, and Dr. John Alderdice, leader of the Alliance Party. Nothing, not even the fact that the State Department refused to issue a visa to Gerry Adams, could make Bill lose faith that the conference attended by the Sinn Féin leader would take place at the
Waldorf-Astoria on the date scheduled. Without the presence of Adams, I felt that the conference would be a fiasco and counseled Bill to call it off. He would sanction nothing of the kind and worked hard behind the scenes with Senator Edward Kennedy; Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith; Tony Lake, President Clinton’s national security adviser; Lake’s deputy, Nancy Soderberg, and others to persuade President Clinton not to miss this brilliant opportunity to bring the opposing parties to the table. Eventually the president saw the merits of the conference and approved a visa for Gerry Adams. Three dates constitute defining moments for the justification offered by Bill Flynn and the NCAFP for our involvement in the Northern Ireland troubles: February 1, 1994; April 12, 1994; and October 24, 1994. From the moment I officially welcomed Gerry Adams at Kennedy after he received a 48-hour visa, the NCAFP’s conference became a media spectacular. After the huge press conference at the airport, Sister Carol, the conference director, and I checked Adams into the Waldorf-Astoria under the nom de plume Shlomo Breznitz, a “noted Israeli scholar.” At the daylong Waldorf-Astoria con-
“No Irish-American has contributed so much for so long to the present peace in Northern Ireland as Bill Flynn. Using both his own considerable charm and diplomacy as well as the strength and facility of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, he
maintained an open door to all the warring parties, promoting the dialogue that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement and the present Northern Ireland Assembly. As President of Flax Trust America, Bill Flynn has a day-to-day involvement with the Flax Trust programme of reconciliation through economic development.” – Sr Mary Turley, founder of the Flax Trust. HERITAGE SERIES IRISH AMERICA 9