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"Certainly, they are entitled to make a statement, but the reason that U.S. Rep. Payne is being recognized is his strong commitment to Irish issues over the years as a member of Congress," he said. Giblin said Payne has "stood tall" for the Irish by helping Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams get a visa so he could visit the United States and by making visits to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

I guess Giblin thought this bit of info would make us feel warm and fuzzy?

FEBRUARY 2005 : (SINN FEIN LEADERS INCLUDING GERRY ADAMS ARE MEMBERS OF THE IRA'S COMMAND) DUBLIN, Ireland - In an unprecedented confrontation, the Irish government on Sunday publicly identified three of Sinn Fein's top figures — including party leader Gerry Adams — as members of the Irish Republican Army command. The government's blunt declaration indicated it no longer would tolerate Adams' protestations that his party should not be held accountable for IRA actions. The shift is intended to force the illegal IRA to disarm fully and disband, or risk the marginalization of the legal Sinn Fein. Political passions are reaching a boiling point in Ireland over the IRA's alleged $50 million robbery of a Belfast bank — the biggest heist in history — and an unfolding investigation into wider IRA money laundering. The Irish government says Sinn Fein leaders are involved in both. (Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...------- "Ireland: Three Sinn Fein Members in IRA," Associated Press ^ | 02/20/2005 | SHAWN POGATCHNIK

AUGUST 11, 2001 : (COLUMBIA : IRA MEMBERS MONAGHAN, MCCAULEY & CONNOLLY - THE LATER ALSO SINN FEIN'S OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO CUBA- ARE ARRESTED; CONNOLLY IS THOUGHT TO HAVE INITIATED CONTACT WITH FARC THROUGH THE SPANISH TERROR GROUP ETA-- See ETA-FARC-IRA-CUBA CONNECTION) Allegations of a FARC-IRA connection arose after the arrest of three Irishmen in Bogotá in August 11, 2001. The men, James Monaghan, Martin McCauley, and Neil Connolly, were traveling using false passports, and found to have traces of explosive on their belongings. All three were subsequently charged with training FARC members in the use of explosives. Security sources in both the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic say the men are IRA members.
Monaghan is believed to have designed the IRA homemade mortar. Originally developed with Libyan help in the early 1970s, the primitive Mark I prototype has evolved into the much more sophisticated Mark 18 "barracks buster," named for its effectiveness in targeting security force bases in Northern Ireland.
Monaghan’s skill in making this weapon has earned him the nickname "Mortar Monaghan." Similarly, MaCauley and Connolly are reported to be among the IRA’s best explosive experts.
Connolly is believed to have initiated contact with FARC through the Spanish terrorist group ETA five years ago, and known to be the official representative in Cuba of the Sinn Fein, IRA’s political wing. The appointment was initially denied but later admitted by the party. Sinn Fein’s President Gerry Adams claimed that Connolly was appointed without his knowledge or that of the international department of Sinn Fein, while confirming that "one of our [Sinn Fein’s] senior members asked Niall Connolly to represent the party in Cuba." When asked by Columbian authorities, Monaghan, MaCauley, and Connelly had initially insisted that they were in FARC’s semi-autonomous safe-haven as eco-tourists, but later claimed to be in Columbia to view the peace process and exchange experiences on this and the one in Northern Ireland.
Adams denied that any training had taken place and refused to attend an April hearing into any FARC-IRA connection, saying he did not want to prejudice the trial of the three captive Irishmen. U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said at the hearing that there had been a "quantum leap in the FARC’s terrorist proficiency on the ground and in urban warfare, which the Columbian authorities believe is attributable to IRA training." This improvement in FARC’s capabilities is apparent from the huge expansion in attacks in the past 18 months that has left 400 Columbian Army and police personnel dead. The attacks saw a shift to economic and urban targets as well as the increased use of car bombs — a development that has caused the death of 10 percent of the country’s bomb disposal experts since January. Columbian forces have also been increasingly targeted by ‘secondary devices’ — explosive devices used to ambush anyone responding to other, more apparent bomb threats. Longer range mobile mortars such as those pioneered by Monaghan have also recently become a new weapon in the FARC arsenal.
Such strategy, tactics, and equipment bear remarkable similarities to those used by the IRA, greatly heightening the suspicion that Monaghan, McCauley, and Connolly were in Columbia for reasons other than eco-tourism or an exchange of experience on peace negotiations. Moreover, indications that the IRA retains international links with other terrorist groups do not stop in Columbia.
There have also been reported links between the Irish terrorists and their Palestinian counterparts. According to a former British Army bomb disposal expert with extensive Northern Ireland experience, the improvised explosive devices recently diffused by him in the Jenin refugee camp are identical to those he had only previously seen used by the IRA. Paul Collinson, who now works for the Red Cross, says the Palestinian devices were also placed using IRA-style tactics he had seen used in Armagh, Londonderry, and Belfast. Collinson, who has worked on bomb disposal in the Palestinian territories, as well as in Afghanistan, Columbia, and Egypt, says this is the first time he has seen IRA weaponry and tactics used outside of Northern Ireland.
Links between the IRA and Palestinian groups is not a new concern for Israel. The Irish group is known to have established contacts with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [* My note : the PFLP is supported in part by Saddam Hussein of Iraq] in the 1970s, as well as meeting with other such groups in Libya in the 1980s.
--------- CDI Terrorism Project: "Globalizing Terrorism: The FARC-IRA Connection," CENTER FOR DEFENSE INFORMATION , June 5, 2002