
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994                   TAG: 9402010262
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

SINN FEIN LEADER ARRIVES IN THE U.S.

After long years of ostracism by Washington, Gerry Adams, the head of Sinn Fein, was permitted onto American soil on Monday and immediately predicted that Northern Ireland's 25 years of urban guerrilla warfare would enter a climactic stage toward peace.

"Let me be quite clear about this: this generation of republicans is going to see peace in Ireland," Adams said on arriving for a conference about the intransigent politics and deadly troubles of Ulster.

Adams, an articulate and enigmatic leader in a centuries-old struggle, commended President Clinton for reversing his visa ban. At a news conference, he expressed optimism for the long run but made no predictions of a peace breakthrough during his visit.

"It's a small step," he said of finally reaching America, with its influential political and media institutions. "But it's also a small victory for free speech." As president of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political arm, Adams has been subject to censorship in Britain and, until recently, in the Irish Republic.

His very arrival, after eight earlier denials of a visa, was hailed by conference organizers as a historic step of recognition for his side in the agonizing warfare that has afflicted Northern Ireland.

\ SINN FEIN\ WHAT IS THE SINN FEIN?\ \ Pronunciation: Shin Fane.

\ Meaning: In Gaelic, roughly "ourselves alone."

\ Support: Won 12.5 percent of the vote in Northern Ireland local council elections in May, making it the second-largest party among Roman Catholic voters in Northern Ireland overall and the largest among Belfast's Catholics.

\ Goal: Seeks a united Ireland, demands that Britain set firm date for withdrawal, supports violence to achieve it.

\ Relationship to IRA: Party claims to be separate from the IRA, but an ally within the "republican movement." Sinn Fein and IRA share a weekly newspaper, Republican News. Many, but not all, Sinn Fein activists graduated through IRA ranks.

by CNB