Gerry Adams has interest in neutrality when it comes to the US election.

Question: What should be the big issues of the 2008 US presidential election?

Gerry Adams: I always stay away from that.

I live in a place which has been cursed with interference by others. We in the party that I represent keep to a very, very, very rigidly neutral lane. Whatever people here decide in terms of who your president is, or your Congress members are, what your government is, is a matter entirely for people who live here.

From an Irish perspective, of course, we’re entitled to say we want Ireland to be a part of that. And given that 46 million or so people here have their roots in Ireland, we think that should be an issue. And it’s a immoral that Ireland is partitioned. It’s an illegitimate incursion into our affairs. It can be straightened out. And I’m quite sure that if a future [US] administration decided it was in its strategic interests to encourage the British government to create conditions for Irish unity, that that would happen. So without getting involved in any of the other issues, I certainly would argue that that should be a matter. And incidentally, it is the most successful foreign policy position at this time.

The Irish peace process in many ways helped in its infancy by President [Bill] Clinton. It continues to be helped by the [George W.] Bush administration. It’s a success and has worked. And it would not have worked except for Irish America and for the people who live here in the US.

Recorded on: Oct 8, 2007