§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the recent visits by Ministers in his Department to the United States of America.
§ Mr. PriorSince I last answered questions on this topic on 25 November, my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea (Mr. Scott) and my noble Friend the Earl of Gowrie have both visited the United States in order to promote understanding of Northern Ireland issues there and to encourage Americans not to contribute to organisations which support terrorism in Northern Ireland. My hon. Friend visited San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in December and my noble Friend visited Washington and New York last month. Both Ministers gave media interviews and met leading opinion-formers.