Hillary Clinton has been reminiscing about her first ever visit to Northern Ireland.
The outgoing US Secretary of State is making her eighth visit to the North today.
She has held talks with the First and Deputy First Ministers at Stormont during which they discussed the recent violent clashes over the decision not to fly the union flag above official buildings throughout the year.
Mrs. Clinton says her first visit to Belfast 17 years ago this month to turn on the Christmas tree lights is still fresh in her memory.
"So many fathers, with children on their shoulders, as I looked out. There was a little girl named Catherine who had lost her father in the troubles and said her Christmas wish was that peace would last forever," she recalled.