March 9, 1995

U.S. President Bill Clinton approved a visa for Irish nationalist leader Gerry Adams to enter the United States on this day in 1995. Adams is the current president of Sinn Féin who, in the late 1980s, became an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process. Several days after granting Adams’ visa, President Clinton welcomed him as a guest to Congress’s 1995 St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon. The President kept the luncheon’s tone light, joking that he was happy to finally be somewhere he would not be criticized for drinking Guinness.