President Jimmy Carter's administration did not take the North of Ireland seriously according to new papers released in Ireland.

Former ambassador Sean Donlon had reported back to Ireland that top White House staff in the were unwilling to study the issue or even to take it seriously.

The confidential document, released under the 30-year rule, said that Carter “is, incidentally, the first Democratic president in many years who has no close Irish links, either personally or through senior staff or cabinet members.

“It is clear that his senior advisers have little understanding not just of Ireland but even of Irish America.

“Casual conversations which I have had with a number of them over the last year reveal a complete ignorance of the facts and an apparent unwillingness to acquire a basic knowledge or to take the issue seriously.”