Stars and Stripes… and Shamrocks?: Clinton's Intervention in Northern Ireland

Abstract

For decades, tensions flared between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with little recognition or action on the part of American presidents. Even in the face of human rights atrocities and political oppression, American leaders chose not to intervene in the conflict. So why did this all change with the election of Bill Clinton as President? Had Irish-Americans finally convinced the government to do something in their ancestral home? Had the terrorist acts and stifling of democracy reached a breaking point? Or was there something, or someone, else that influenced Clinton to try and resolve the Northern Irish question?