Clinton 'encouraged' by peace process moves
The ball is in the court of Northern Ireland politicians if there is going to be political progress next month, former US President Bill Clinton claimed today.
As he and his wife Senator Hillary Clinton arrived in Belfast for talks with political leaders at the start of a two-day visit, Mr Clinton said he was encouraged by some of the recent statements by key players in the peace process.
He also said a US administration led by Senator John Kerry would greatly assist the peace process if needed.
“I am curious and interested (by today’s discussions)”, he declared outside the Europa Hotel.
“You know, I try to keep up and I try to be helpful. I think it’s actually kind of encouraging what has been said lately. And the commitment that Prime Minister Blair and the Taoiseach have made in September and what the major parties have said.”
Mr Clinton was greeted by a crowd of around 20 tourists and office workers as he arrived and went to greet them.
Afterwards he said there appeared to be a willingness on the part of parties including Sinn Féin and the DUP to break through the political deadlock at Stormont.
“Mostly you get the feeling that they are willing to work out an accommodation,” he said.
“I know that the people here want to go forward. I also think that they are serious political parties, so they want to exercise authority. You can’t exercise authority if you don’t have a government to exercise it within.”
Mr Clinton said he did not know if the IRA would take an historic step in the coming weeks to wind down all paramilitary and criminal activity.
The former president said he had no doubt a White House led by Democratic candidate John Kerry would play a proactive role in assisting the Northern Ireland peace process if needed.
“It depends on the facts at the time if it were needed,” he said. “You have to see what happens here in mid-September. The ball is in your court.”
Mr Clinton said a John Kerry presidency would be far more heavily involved in projects which would build up a positive image of the United States across the world.
He said: “It’s hard to say (what exact difference a Kerry presidency would make to Northern Ireland) because the framework of peace is in place and the details have to be worked out.
“He would far more likely be heavily involved and supportive of the process and bring the American government to bear. It is generally true that if he were president he would be more active across a whole range of areas which would build America’s positive relationships.
“I don’t think you can fight terror, which is a tactic in a vacuum. You have to basically say what is the real enemy here – fundamentalists, mostly religious fundamentalists and political claims to exclusive truth and power.
“Terrorism is the major tactic being employed by a certain set of fundamentalists who want absolute power.
“If you can’t kill, occupy or jail all your enemies, eventually you have to make a deal. That is what politics is and it is essentially what happened in Northern Ireland.
“That is a rule that we need to be following all around the world. We need to stand up to terror, oppose it and oppose the fundamentalism but we also have to create a fabric, a network for cooperative relationships where people see America as being on their side.
“That is what Senator Kerry would do and I think he would be quite good at it.”
Mr Clinton laughed off claims by one reporter that his book was keeping women awake at night.
“I don’t think many people stay up late reading it,” he said. “You can read it in the daytime.”
The former President is due to sign copies of his memoirs in a Belfast city centre bookstore after meeting Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy, the DUP, Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP.
His wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, will meet Belfast Lord Mayor Tom Ekin while taking part at a conference of women’s leaders at City Hall.
She will then travel to Derry to deliver a lecture at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus in memory of veteran US Democrat Tip O’Neill.
