January 11, 1994

This date marked the end of the Irish Broadcasting ban on Sinn Fein. Known as the Section 31 Broadcasting Act, it prohibited members of Sinn Fein and the IRA from appearing on television or speaking on radio. The ban had been in effect since the 1970s. It was recently revealed that Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald had moved to remove the ban in 1981, but it remained in place until 1994. When Pres. Clinton granted Gerry Adams a visa to enter the U.S. at the end of January 1994, people were surprised about how well he could speak.