(2024-0172-F) Cahill/Visa

The materials in FOIA 2024-0172-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Researchers interested in this collection should also see 2011-0355-F Nancy Soderberg’s Records on the Northern Ireland Peace Process. As part of the middle to late 1990s Irish peace process a number of both Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Loyalists actors attempted to obtain visas to come to the United States. Primarily to raise support among expatriates and native American supporters. Many with arrest records in Ireland, Great Britain, or the United States were denied under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. They were required to apply for waivers under section 212(D)(3)(A) of that act—codified at 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(A). Given the importance that the Clinton administration placed on finding a way to peace in Ireland, many of these waiver applications rose to the level of Presidential action; unusual for a process typically handled at the consular level. This collection is not comprehensive in regard to visa issues writ large; rather it is primarily related to specific visa and waiver requests. A list of names is included below. This collection serves as a good introduction into the visa and waiver process while also highlighting the importance that the Clinton administration placed using visas as a tool for negotiation toward peace. Records opened in this collection include memoranda, cables, emails, notes, and forms related to the visa and waiver process. Seosamh Ó Cathail, Joseph Cahill, or more often known as Joe Cahill, was one of the founding members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Cahill was born in Belfast in 1920. The son of a printer, he attended Catholic school until the age of fourteen when he left to go work in the print shop. In 1937, Cahill joined Na Fianna Eireann which some refer to as the Junior Irish Republican Army. Cahill joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1938 and by 1942 was the second in command of his local brigade. Cahill was imprisoned in 1942 after a gunfight with officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and sentenced to death for participating in a crime for which another man claimed guilt. Following pressure by the Vatican and United States, Cahill and his conspirators’ sentences were reduced to life in prison. Cahill was released following the 1945 ceasefire declared by the IRA and lived a relatively quiet life and started a family. In 1956 the IRA renewed action against the British and Cahill was again arrested and sent to prison. Around 1962, Cahill was displeased with the direction of the IRA—the border campaign was failing, and the IRA was becoming more Marxists—and he resigned. Cahill joined with Mac Stíofáin, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Paddy Mulcahy, Sean Tracey, Leo Martin, and Dáithí Ó Conaill to form the PIRA in 1969. Nineteen seventy and seventy-one were particularly violent periods in the conflict for Irish independence. In 1971, the British began or renewed a program to arrest people for nothing more than being a member of the IRA and in 1971 the PIRA leader Billy McKee was arrested and imprisoned. Joe Cahill became commander of the Belfast brigade of the PIRA. In 1971 and 1972, Cahill would be part of intergovernmental talks, become Chief of Staff of the PIRA and the liaison to the Irish Northern Aid Committee (NORAID). In 1972 Cahill was put in charge of procuring arms for the IRA which didn’t last long as he was arrested in 1973 and charged with importing weapons and bomb making materials from Libya. He served another term in prison and following his release he traveled to the United States to attend a NORAID meeting. It was discovered that he entered the United States illegally and he was deported. Both his 1973 arrest and imprisonment and his 1984 deportation for illegal entry would factor importantly in later discussions of Cahill’s ability to obtain a visa to visit the United States. Ultimately, Cahill would receive a waiver and be allowed a visa for a number of trips to the United States. He died in Belfast, July 23, 2004. While this request was for records relating to Joe Cahill, requests for visas by other IRA and Loyalist members were found in conjunction. This case also contains records related to: Adams, Gerry; Artt, Kevin Barry; Barr, James; Brennan, Pol; Campbell, Brian; Campbell, Paul; Carberry, Ivor; Caufield, Charles; Coyle, Patrick; Crossan, Kevin; Culbert, Michael; Dillon, Patrick; Doherty, Pat; Donaldson, Denis; English, Thomas; Ervine, David; Ferris, Martin; Ferguson, Brian; Finucane, Seamus; Gaynor, Noel; Hartley, Thomas; Howell, Edward; Hutchinson, William; Kelly, Gerard; Keogh, Patrick; Kirby, Terry; Lavery, Robert; McAteer, Aidan; McAuley, Richard; McClinton, Kenny; McErlean, Robert; McGeown, Patrick; McGeough, Gerry; McGuigan, Gerard; McGuinness, Martin; McGuinness, William; McKenna, Brenden; McKeown, Laurence; McLaughlin, Mitchel; Megahey, Gabriel; Mitchell, William Irvine (Billy); Morrison, Danny; Morrison, Matt; O’Doherty, Shane Paul; O’Hanlon, Siobhan; O’Hare, Marguerite (Rita); Quinn, James; Pearson, Brian; Rice, Gerard; Roberts, Thomas; Sands-McKevitt, Bernadette; Smith, Billy; Trainor [Treanor], Patrick; White, John and others. Under 8 U.S.C. 1202(f) records related to the issuance of visas are restricted. There are a significant number of closures in this collection under that statute as much of this collection relates to visa issuance.