Clinton in Belfast to Boost Peace Talks

B E L F A S T, Dec. 13, 2000 -- President Bill Clinton, ona farewell trip to troubled Northern Ireland, swept into theBritish province’s deeply divided parliament today fortalks aimed at anchoring the drifting peace process.

Key players in the slow-moving drive for stability weregreeted by Clinton, making his third visit to Northern Irelandbefore he steps down as president on January 20.

Clinton went into the meetings increasingly sure that hissuccessor would be George W. Bush and not vice-president Al Goreafter U.S. Supreme Court rulings on recounts that favored Bush.

After the universal adulation that marked his visit to theneighboring Irish Republic and its capital Dublin, Clintonswiftly found a sourer mood in Belfast.

Playing Favorites?

Hardline Protestant leaders like fiery preacher Ian Paisleylost no time in making clear they felt Clinton favored minorityRoman Catholics in negotiations about the future of theprovince, where 3,600 people have died in the 30-year conflict.

Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party complained Clinton andBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is joining the talks, hadsnubbed them by not including them in today’s main talks.

Clinton and Blair are meeting the leaders—from ProtestantFirst Minister David Trimble to Irish republican Sinn Feinleader Gerry Adams—in a string of contacts that they hopewill ease the current deadlock.

The peace process is faltering, with the local governmentarguing over delays in guerrilla disarmament and reform of thepredominantly Protestant police.

Mitchell in Talks

Former U.S. senator and Northern Ireland mediator GeorgeMitchell will also join the talks.

Mitchell chaired meetings of the divided politicians through22 months of ultimately successful talks, doggedly keeping themat the negotiating table with a mixture of optimism, calmnessand fairness which won him the respect of both the Protestantand Roman Catholic communities.

The former Senate majority leader oversaw the signing of theGood Friday accord in April 1998, only to be called back for asuccessful 11-week rescue mission in late 1999.

No big breakthrough is expected but Clinton, who madeNorthern Ireland a major plank of his foreign policy, could actas a catalyst for squabbling leaders from the Protestantmajority and the Catholic minority.

One coalition minister, Protestant Unionist Dermot Nesbitt,summed up the core issues.

“We have devolution (home rule) in Northern Ireland but wedo not have decommissioning (disarmament). Let’s now seedecommissioning. Let us now know that the war is over,” he said.

Police outriders flanked the Clinton motorcade as it swungthrough the gates of the Stormont Estate.

Tide of Good Will

On Tuesday, Clinton strode through Dublin on a tide of goodwill after devoting a great deal of his presidency to the causeof peace in Northern Ireland, the stage for one of the mostintractable guerrilla conflicts of the 20th century.

His last stop was the border town of Dundalk, renowned as abolthole for dissident republicans who spurn Northern Ireland’sGood Friday peace agreement and fight on for Irish unity withthe gun and bomb.

Clinton, passionately committed to reconciling the feudingcommunities, had a heartfelt message for the renegade gunmen:“You cannot win by making your neighbors lose.”

The Irish Republican Army and other mainstream guerrillagroups are observing ceasefires but dissidents on both sides ofthe sectarian divide have been responsible for sporadicviolence. Seventeen people have been killed this year.

Clinton, a charismatic communicator basking in the affectionof the cheering crowd, told 60,000 people: “Redouble yourefforts for peace.”