United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland

The United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (officially the Special Envoy of the President and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) is the top U.S. diplomat supporting the Northern Ireland peace process. The position is held by Joe Kennedy III, appointed by President Joe Biden on December 19, 2022. Origins Before the 1980s, U.S. leaders were reluctant to get involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. When Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail as the Democratic candidate for president in 1992, he suggested both orally and in a letter to Congressman Bruce Morrison that he would favor the appointment of a Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. Clinton was not alone in supporting a more active U.S. involvement in Northern Ireland. On February 23, 1993, shortly after Clinton assumed office as president, Representative Joseph P. Kennedy, together with 16 co-sponsors, sponsored a Congressional Resolution calling for the appointment of a Special Envoy. The Resolution called that it be: However, the proposed Resolution initially came to nothing. Nevertheless, Clinton discussed the prospect of appointing a Special Envoy with the Irish premier, Albert Reynolds when the two leaders first met on St. Patrick's Day in 1993. However Clinton deferred any appointment. When the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) declared a ceasefire in 1994, Sinn Féin party leader, Gerry Adams urged Washington to play a "nudging role" as it did in South Africa and the Middle East. Congressman Bruce Morrison was considered a potential candidate.