United States Special Envoy For Northern Ireland - Future

Future

The U.S. has at times contemplated whether to terminate the position of U.S. Special Envoy on Northern Ireland. In 2001, then U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell stated in response to questions that:

It is not yet clear whether a special Northern Ireland envoy, such as the role played by former Senator George Mitchell, will be appointed, but the State Department will identify someone in the department to take on "as a primary additional duty" serving in a communication role... if the situation moves in a way that suggests it takes that kind of high-level special envoy involvement.

During the 2008 presidential campaign in the United States, Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama was reported in The Irish Times as having questioned the necessity to keep a U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. This drew a robust response from the Republican Party candidate, Senator John McCain, who strongly backed retaining a U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. The Senator criticised Senator Obama’s position as demonstrating a willingness:

“to toss aside one of the signature diplomatic accomplishments of the Clinton administration and put the progress in Northern Ireland at risk is only further evidence that he is simply not ready to lead."