BY GREG ROSENBERG
WASHINGTON, D.C. - "British troops have every right to be in Ireland - it is a part of the United Kingdom," a Georgetown University student told Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, in an overflowing campus meeting hall here September 13.
"The British government are very slow learners," responded Adams in measured tones. "They used to say that they had every right to be in this country."
That statement brought virtually the entire audience of 750 Georgetown students and faculty to its feet in a prolonged ovation.
"They used to say that about Africa, Asia, about India," Adams continued to hearty applause, "but they're not there any longer. There's no point in arguing about it. Clear as the sun will rise tomorrow, the British government will leave Ireland."
Adams addressed the Georgetown audience during a five- day trip to the United States. The visit included speaking in the New York area, a meeting with U.S. vice- president Albert Gore and National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, and a national television interview on "Good Morning America."
The warm response accorded the Sinn Fein president was particularly significant given that until 18 months ago, Adams was completely barred from visiting the United States by both Democratic and Republican administrations, who tarred Sinn Fein as "terrorist."
"I was interned without trial in the 1970s, and later in Long Kesh prison," for Repulican political activity, Adams pointed out. "That was the basis of the denial of a visa to come to the United States. But it was more a case of U.S. citizens being denied a right" to hear the truth about Ireland, Adams said. "All we want is the right to put forward our position - and our opponents theirs. You can decide."
The Georgetown meeting was open to students and faculty, along with the media and a dozen supporters of Friends of Sinn Fein. Tickets were so in demand that a protest broke out at the distribution site the day before the event when, some 100 students became angry and stayed for more than half an hour after tickets had run out. They left when a university official promised they would be placed on a waiting list.
"Today we have the best opportunity to build peace in 75 years," said Adams, in the wake of the August 31, 1994, cease-fire declared by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). That cease-fire has yielded new political elbow room for the working people of Northern Ireland to press the fight for the removal of London's occupying army, the release of hundreds of political prisoners in British jails, and the unification of their country.
"But we do not have peace in Ireland," Adams declared. "What we have is the space in which peace can grow." As a result of London's refusal to hold all- party talks, the negotiation process has slowed, and "the optimism which was there a year ago is being replaced with a marked disappointment."
"I'm an Irish Republican. I want to see a united Ireland. But I'm prepared to argue for a negotiated settlement. One would have thought that in 13 months the British government would have agreed to a roundtable conference," the Sinn Fein president said. "I think that the British want a settlement, but one on their own terms."
Adams emphasized that the struggle in Ireland "is not a religious conflict. A section of the people - who happen to be Protestant - look to Britain to defend their interests. The Unionist [pro-British] section of our people have to be involved" in the new political developments.
Dozens of students rushed to the microphone to ask questions and make comments following Adams's half-hour speech. "If you are committed to peace, why doesn't Sinn Fein demand the IRA give up its weapons?" one student wanted to know. "There is no precedent anywhere in the world that armed groups surrender their weapons," Adams said, pointing out that Sinn Fein does not demand that Loyalist forces or the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police decommission their guns. "We want to create the conditions where all the guns are permanently taken out of the situation. People have been in the armed struggle because there's no alternative. We want to build the alternative."
Adams pointed out that there are more than 800 Irish political prisoners; that London has renewed the state of emergency in Northern Ireland over the past six months; and that over 300 plastic bullets have been fired at the Irish by the RUC and British forces this year. He said Sinn Fein demands total democratization, the release of all prisoners - Republican and Loyalist - and total demilitarization of the North through all-party talks.
Another questioner wondered if London's stonewalling on all-party talks would result in some elements of armed groups lashing out violently.
"We persuaded those involved in the armed struggle to stop," the Sinn Fein president said. "I don't think that the peace process is in danger of collapse. But it is under severe pressure."
The Sinn Fein president also scored institutionalized anti-Catholic discrimination, whereby workers who are Catholic are more than twice as likely to face the scourge of unemployment as their Protestant counterparts.
Another student questioned the demand for the release of all political prisoners. Adams reiterated this demand meant Loyalist as well as Repulican. "Over 400 civilians have been killed by the British forces. Yet no soldier responsible is in prison at this time." Adams pointed to the example of British army Private Lee Clegg, who was "convicted for the murder of an Irish girl, served two years, is now back in the British army, and has just been promoted.
"The slogan from Falls Road was `Clegg Out, All Out!' " during street actions protesting his release, Adams reported.
"Sinn Fein and the IRA have the reputation of having a Marxist and socialist ideology," said one student. "Have you moved closer to Clinton and the West?"
"Sinn Fein wants to see an Irish republic," Adams remarked. "Republicanism in the Irish context has been a radical philosophy and should remain a radical philosophy...I consider myself a socialist. Capitalism has done nothing for me. But that's up to the people of Ireland to decide."
Brian Williams contributed to this article.