Unionism will need to counter SF propaganda in US

Mr Adams has said that he will also brief American leaders on political problems in Northern Ireland.

His party is, he said, “totally committed” to restoration of Stormont but, he added, this can only be “on the basis of equality and respect, and the implementation of outstanding commitments arising from the Good Friday and subsequent agreements”.

Mr Adams is in effect saying that Sinn Féin demands remain intact, because the party has long maintained that there is a commitment to an Irish language act and a Bill of Rights, among other apparent commitments.

The DUP says it never agreed to such an act, and it is a good thing that the party did not because it has become increasingly clear, with talk of job quotas and so on, the aim behind a standalone act.

In the meantime, a group of young people from Northern Ireland whose relatives were murdered by Provisional IRA terrorists is also in America.

While Mr Adams plays statesman, we wish these young people well on their trip, who have been touched by the real nature of the sectarian, republican movement.

Their presence in the United States underscores how extraordinary it is that the advocates of terrorism – Sinn Féin – should be confident to strut the corridors of power in a nation that has since 2001 purported to have a zero tolerance of terrorism.

Given this American intolerance of terrorism, and given the power of the Scots Irish in America (the leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has Co Down roots), there is scope for unionist delegations to go to the US and to dispel republican myths among some of the most powerful people on earth.