Irish America's political leadership has probably never been so agreed on a single issue. Elections, members of Congress believe, should take place in Northern Ireland. And that means just about any time after the politically somnolent month of August. Irish-American members of Congress, of course, have had numerous disagreements with British administrations over the years.
In turn, British diplomats, visiting ministers and prime ministers have responded with excuses, justification or simple, outright dismissal. But suspending elections goes so hard against the congressional mindset that it doesn't stand up to more than a moment's glance, never mind the withering stare of someone like Senator Edward Kennedy. He made plain his view last week after meeting with Gerry Adams in Boston.
"At a time when we're talking about both the British and the United States building democracy in Iraq, we ask what is the reason for continued delay in having an election in Northern Ireland?" he asked.
A good question indeed and one that was merely an echo of a similar one posed to Prime Minister Tony Blair during his recent take-a-bow visit to Washington DC.
In a letter to Mr Blair, 14 members of the US House of Representatives urged him to set a date for elections "as soon as possible".
The house members, both Democrat and Republican, praised Blair for his "extraordinary leadership" during the peace process but they then proceeded to remind him that the current impasse was unsatisfactory and that the same process had become "stagnant".
"Not only was the public denied their fundamental right to vote, the cancellation of the May 29 elections sent a negative message to a society that has aspirations of becoming exclusively democratic," the congressmen stated in their letter to Mr Blair.
"In our opinion, the British government should set a date for elections as soon as possible," the 14 stated, adding that devolved government should also be restored.
"Prior to its suspension by the British government last October, the political institutions and its members were performing effectively," they said.
"Lifting the suspension would enable the people of Northern Ireland to once again govern themselves, which is an essential ingredient in any democratic process."
Signatories to the letter included the four co-chairs of the congressional ad hoc committee for Irish affairs, Richard Neal, Peter King, Joe Crowley and John Sweeney. It was also signed by the congressional Friends of Ireland chairman, Congressman James Walsh.
It has to be remembered that these guys functional politically in an election cycle only two years long. While US senators can breathe a little in the middle of their six-year terms, members of the House of Representatives face the voters every second November.
So, elections are like sunrise and sunset to them, the natural order of political life.
The idea of cancelling them is not only anathema, it is downright unnatural... worse, un-American. Gerry Adams was certainly aware of this during his five days in Boston and New York last week.
The cancellation has given his party a particularly strong hand to play with, not just with politicians on Capitol Hill, but with Irish-American supporters on the ground who have been primed for consistent and growing electoral gains for the party since politics was given, supposedly, a clear run in the Good Friday Agreement.
So Mr Adams didn't have to raise his voice too loudly, or make his way from one meeting to the next on the back foot.
All and sundry were nodding in agreement even before he said anything. And what he said sounded more like the words of a diplomat than a politician.
Just before flying back to Ireland, he said it had been made plain to him by all the US political leaders he had met over the five days that there should be assembly elections as soon as possible.
He was speaking after meeting for an hour in Manhattan with Dr Richard Haass, the Bush administration's special representative to the Northern Ireland peace process.
"It was a good meeting. The main thrust of it was to make the case for elections," Mr Adams said.
"I told him that everybody I had met on my trip felt it was important to set a date for elections."
Asked if Dr Haass had expressed agreement with this view during their meeting, Mr Adams replied: "It's a fairly open secret that everyone here wants to see elections go forward."
Asked if he expected any overt intervention by the Bush administration, Mr Adams indicated that he did not expect any early public initiative.
"What the administration says to the British will be private. I accept that is the nature of diplomacy," he said. "In the end, I think they will do it in a quiet way, but that's a matter for them."
The Sinn Féin leader said he was "encouraged" by the continued role for Dr Haass, who recently left the US State Department to head the New York-based council on foreign relations.
Mr Adams said Dr Haass's continued role was a sign that the Bush administration was still "keenly interested" in the peace process.
"I think Richard Haass has been very good and balanced in his approach. And with regard to the question of style differences between the Clinton and Bush administrations, I think the style has changed but the substance of the approach remains the same," Mr Adams said.
It will be interesting to see, as the 2004 presidential and congressional election races gather momentum, if the administration's quiet approach can be maintained.
Granted, Washington's main concern right now is Iraq and will remain so for the foreseeable future. But once the summer is past and the '04 campaign really starts to wind up, Irish-American politicians are going to be posed questions by constituents who see peace in Ireland as being something worth making noise about. And if peace demands an election, they will want to see one take place. And quickly.
