CLINTON FLIES IN WITH A BRAVE MESSAGE OF HOPE
By William Graham
Political Corespondent
THE President of the United States Bill Clinton is due to arrive today with a brave message of hope for the future - that the Good Friday agreement is taking root and that the enemies of peace will be defeated.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was expected at Belfast International Airport to meet Mr Clinton who was travelling on board Air Force One - First Lady Hillary Clinton had journeyed to Belfast a day earlier on Air Force Two.
This presidential visit will add impetus to the Irish peace process which has already picked up pace as a result of Gerry Adams's signal that violence must be a thing of the past, over, done with and gone.
A huge security operation co-ordinated by the American secret service and the RUC was ready to swing into place and a motorcade prepared to speed Mr Clinton to Parliament Buildings, Stormont.
On the steps of Stormont - a place once described as a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people - Mr Clinton is due to receive a joint greeting by the unionist and nationalist leaders of Northern Ireland's new power-sharing assembly, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon.
The symbolic significance of Mr Clinton first going to meet the 108 assembly members underlines the American president's firm conviction that the Good Friday agreement is the touchstone for political progress into the future.
After the Stormont meetings with all the political parties. Mr Clinton's schedule includes a keynote speech at the Waterfront Hall. He also goes to the site of the new Springvale campus of the University of Ulster in west Belfast, visits Omagh and the site of the bombing which killed 28 people and injured 220 and then in the evening he travels to Armagh for talks with church leaders and to take part in a peace and reconciliation event.
Undoubtedly, the most sombre and moving part of President Clinton's visit will be in Omagh where he will hear from survivors and relatives of the dead.
He will convey to them the condolences of the American people who, along with people throughout the world, were shocked by this terrible bombing which led to the largest loss of life of any single incident in Northern Ireland.
Mr Clinton will also reflect on another terrible act of violence -the burning to death of three children in their Ballymoney home at the height of the Drumcree crisis.
These will be moments of deep reflection for President Clinton but again his message will be a powerful one in that the people of Ireland have the courage to face the future and will not allow the ship of peace - the Good Friday agreement - to sink. Instead Mr Clinton will advise that the political leaders, while not facing an easy road ahead, have demonstrated that they are risk-takers and the prize must be a peaceful future.
Yesterday, ahead of the president's arrival from Moscow, Hillary Clinton was in Belfast to speak at the Women in Democracy conference.
She said that "when my husband and I go to Omagh we will pay tribute to those who were murdered by the enemies of peace. They were mostly women and children, Catholic and Protestant, unionist and nationalist, young and old. They were people simply living their lives."
Mrs Clinton praised the role of women in the search for peace and spoke about the courage and strength of generations of women.
She added that the United States would continue to do all it could to support Northern Ireland.
"You will only move forward and, as you do, please know that America will stand with you."
Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that things were now moving in the right direction in Northern Ireland and that the best response to the Omagh bombing was not to abandon the peace accord but to carry it forward vigorously and deny those opposed to the democratic process.
The Dail and the Commons rushed through tough new legislation to deal with dissidents, although there have been strong questions posed about the dangers of human rights abuses.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that the message to those who carried out the Omagh bombing was that "you cannot hope to take on the people of Ireland and win."
Clearly directing his remarks towards the Real IRA, Mr Ahern said: "These people are about to learn a lesson that will teach them to respect the strength of Irish democracy."
Political Corespondent
THE President of the United States Bill Clinton is due to arrive today with a brave message of hope for the future - that the Good Friday agreement is taking root and that the enemies of peace will be defeated.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was expected at Belfast International Airport to meet Mr Clinton who was travelling on board Air Force One - First Lady Hillary Clinton had journeyed to Belfast a day earlier on Air Force Two.
This presidential visit will add impetus to the Irish peace process which has already picked up pace as a result of Gerry Adams's signal that violence must be a thing of the past, over, done with and gone.
A huge security operation co-ordinated by the American secret service and the RUC was ready to swing into place and a motorcade prepared to speed Mr Clinton to Parliament Buildings, Stormont.
On the steps of Stormont - a place once described as a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people - Mr Clinton is due to receive a joint greeting by the unionist and nationalist leaders of Northern Ireland's new power-sharing assembly, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon.
The symbolic significance of Mr Clinton first going to meet the 108 assembly members underlines the American president's firm conviction that the Good Friday agreement is the touchstone for political progress into the future.
After the Stormont meetings with all the political parties. Mr Clinton's schedule includes a keynote speech at the Waterfront Hall. He also goes to the site of the new Springvale campus of the University of Ulster in west Belfast, visits Omagh and the site of the bombing which killed 28 people and injured 220 and then in the evening he travels to Armagh for talks with church leaders and to take part in a peace and reconciliation event.
Undoubtedly, the most sombre and moving part of President Clinton's visit will be in Omagh where he will hear from survivors and relatives of the dead.
He will convey to them the condolences of the American people who, along with people throughout the world, were shocked by this terrible bombing which led to the largest loss of life of any single incident in Northern Ireland.
Mr Clinton will also reflect on another terrible act of violence -the burning to death of three children in their Ballymoney home at the height of the Drumcree crisis.
These will be moments of deep reflection for President Clinton but again his message will be a powerful one in that the people of Ireland have the courage to face the future and will not allow the ship of peace - the Good Friday agreement - to sink. Instead Mr Clinton will advise that the political leaders, while not facing an easy road ahead, have demonstrated that they are risk-takers and the prize must be a peaceful future.
Yesterday, ahead of the president's arrival from Moscow, Hillary Clinton was in Belfast to speak at the Women in Democracy conference.
She said that "when my husband and I go to Omagh we will pay tribute to those who were murdered by the enemies of peace. They were mostly women and children, Catholic and Protestant, unionist and nationalist, young and old. They were people simply living their lives."
Mrs Clinton praised the role of women in the search for peace and spoke about the courage and strength of generations of women.
She added that the United States would continue to do all it could to support Northern Ireland.
"You will only move forward and, as you do, please know that America will stand with you."
Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that things were now moving in the right direction in Northern Ireland and that the best response to the Omagh bombing was not to abandon the peace accord but to carry it forward vigorously and deny those opposed to the democratic process.
The Dail and the Commons rushed through tough new legislation to deal with dissidents, although there have been strong questions posed about the dangers of human rights abuses.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that the message to those who carried out the Omagh bombing was that "you cannot hope to take on the people of Ireland and win."
Clearly directing his remarks towards the Real IRA, Mr Ahern said: "These people are about to learn a lesson that will teach them to respect the strength of Irish democracy."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0208
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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