The Bush Administration and Northern Ireland as a Local Political Issue

Abstract

The British government welcomed Vice President George HW Bush’s election in 1988 and, predictably, his policy towards Northern Ireland remained consistent throughout his single term in office. In local politics, however, much was made of the situation in Northern Ireland, most notable in the office of the Mayor of New York City. There, Ed Koch and David Dinkins both took an interest in Northern Ireland with the latter heavily involved in the campaign to extradite Joe Doherty, an IRA member who had been convicted of killing a British Army officer, from New York to Northern Ireland. The Doherty case had led to the signing of a new extradition agreement between the US and UK but still Doherty resisted his removal. The chapter also examines the 1992 Presidential Election with particular focus on the Democratic Primary campaign which saw former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s interest in Northern Ireland develop over a series of weeks and months before he pledged to involve the US Government, if elected, in ways never before seen.