Gerry Adams will go where Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Deval refused to tread tonight when he appears at the Clover Club in Boston to address the 650 members.

Deval snubbed the all-male club when he refused to turn up at the last moment for their dinner in December. It looks like Adams is a much-bigger draw than Deval however, according to club members who say Deval had attracted only 500 or so members.

Adams was invited by Joe Leary, head of the Irish American Partnership, an organization that has done sterling work for peace in Northern Ireland. Rita O'Hare, head of Sinn Fein's outreach to America, said that Leary's work on behalf of peace in Northern Ireland made accepting the invitation a no-brainer.

That is as it should be.

I have known Joe Leary for twenty years, when the going was tough in Northern Ireland. Before the peace process became everyone's bandwagon, Leary was working hard to bring about peace there.

While in Boston Adams will also march in the Saint Patrick's Day parade in South Boston, and attend a political breakfast there on Sunday morning.

What may not co-operate will be the weather. Heavy rainstorms are forecast all day Saturday and Sunday in Boston, which may put a damper on the parade.