Overview
- Documents record a U.K. official telling Irish counterparts that the Americans wanted no photograph of President Bill Clinton shaking Gerry Adams’ hand at a Belfast reception.
- Despite the caution, Clinton briefly greeted Adams on the Falls Road on 30 November 1995, and an official White House photographer captured the handshake.
- Correspondence notes a general U.S. reluctance to hold one‑on‑one meetings with Adams, Ian Paisley, or John Alderdice, in contrast with planned private time for John Hume and David Trimble.
- Irish notes say the British side expanded a Queen’s University reception to about 300 guests, had Patrick Mayhew host it, and arranged party “pods” to encourage broader attendance and tone down political symbolism.
- A 1995 report by genealogist Sean Murphy found the touted Cassidy link to Co Fermanagh was largely fantasy, though U.S. planners still explored using the Cassidy connection in a low‑key way.