The Northern Ireland peace process spans the entire decade of the 1990s. Focusing on the years 1993 and 1994, this paper reviews the events of the peace process leading up to the important decision by the Clinton Administration to grant Gerry Adams, the leader of the Irish-republican political party Sinn Fein, a visa to visit New York in 1994. After discussing the debate surrounding the decision to grant the visa, this paper examines the effects of Adams' U.S. visit on the peace process and how the visa decision led to increasing American involvement in Northern Ireland. The paper concludes that the more active role taken by the U.S. government had positive results for Northern Ireland's peace process.
