    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [April 13, 1998]
    [Pages 554-555]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Former Senator George
    J. Mitchell
    April 13, 1998

    Possible Visit to Ireland

        Q. Mr. President, are you going to make a trip to Ireland?
        The President. Well, if it would help, of course I would be willing
    to go, but I think it's important not to make that decision yet. I
    haven't had a chance to talk to the two Prime
    Ministers about it or the leaders of the main
    parties. If they think I should go--and they've got the biggest stake
    and the closest sense of the public--I would be happy to do it. But I
    have not decided to do it, and it's really completely up to them.
        Q. Do you think that it might constitute sort of unwarranted
    interference in their affairs for you to go before the referendums?
        The President. That's a decision I want them to make. That's why I
    said I don't think it's my place, really, to deal with this one way or
    the other. I'm not going to weigh in on it. I'm always willing to do
    whatever I can to help, but I don't want to do something that would
    undermine the chances of success. I want to do whatever I can to
    increase the chances that the parties themselves and the public now will
    make a decision.

    U.S. Ambassador to Ireland

        Q. Are you sending Riley to Ireland?
        The President. I have made no decision about the next Ambassador to
    Ireland. I've made no decision about that.
        Q. Why?
        The President. Because I haven't. I haven't had time. I've been
    doing other things.

    President's Income Taxes

        Q. How much are you paying on your taxes?
        The President. A bunch. I don't know. We'll give you the form today.

    Northern Ireland Peace Process

        Q. Mr. President, could you see yourself naming a successor to
    Senator Mitchell, a person to be on the ground, a new sort of peace
    envoy, to help the Irish and the British through a new phase?
        The President. No one has even suggested that to me yet. I think
    what we should all be focused on now is getting the facts of the
    agreement out to the Irish publics, letting the people in the North and
    in the Republic vote their convictions, and then see where we are.
        As I said, I'm always willing to do whatever I can to help, but the
    role of the United States here is a supporting role. And to try to
    help--as I said, we should always try to help create or preserve the
    environment within which peace can occur and progress, and then
    encourage the parties that have to make the decisions, including the
    general public. And so I'm open to that. But there has literally been no
    discussion of that. Nothing.
        Q. Have you seen the agreement yet, and what chances do you give it?
        The President. Of course I've seen it. I'm not a handicapper. I want
    to be encouraging. The important thing is that the public that I saw
    there in December of '95 in both communities wanted peace. They wanted
    an honorable peace. They wanted a process by which they could begin to
    work together. And I think that the agreement that Senator Mitchell has
    hammered out, that the parties have agreed to, provides them that
    chance, and I hope that they will seize it.

    [[Page 555]]

    [At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group
    entered.]

        Q. Do you know at what moment David Trimble changed his mind? And do
    you have any idea why? Because on Wednesday he said, no deal, he
    couldn't accept your framework agreement.
        Senator Mitchell. There was a process of negotiation which occurred
    between Wednesday and Friday in which changes were made to the draft
    document in a manner that led all of the parties to eventually find it
    acceptable. That's what comes out of negotiation.
        Q. But at what point did he say, ``Yes, that's it, that's what I was
    waiting for.'' Or did he never?
        Senator Mitchell. I first knew that the agreement would be approved
    at 4:45 in the afternoon on Friday when Mr. Trimble called me and said
    that they were ready to go. We had distributed the agreement in its
    final form on Friday morning, and I had been in touch with all of the
    party leaders during the day to inquire as to when they might be ready
    to go with a final plenary session to vote on the agreement and to
    approve it.
        And of course during those discussions I encouraged them and
    inquired of them as to whether they would be ready to vote for it. And
    gradually, over the course of the day, several of them said, we're ready
    to go now, and we'll vote for it. And at 4:45 p.m., Mr. Trimble called
    me to say he was ready to go and was prepared to get it done. And so as
    to make certain that it was done without any further interruption, I
    called the meeting right then and there.
        Q. Would you have gotten the agreement without the input of
    President Clinton?
        Senator Mitchell. I don't think there would have been an agreement
    without President Clinton's involvement--not beginning this past week
    but beginning several years ago. I think the President's decisions have
    been timely, have been critical, and I think it's very important to keep
    that in mind, that while the President was very actively involved in the
    concluding negotiations, including staying up all night and making phone
    calls to many people, including myself, they didn't begin there. They
    began 5 years ago, and what happened was the culmination of a long
    process of involvement by the President.
        No American President has ever before visited Northern Ireland while
    in office. No American President has ever before placed the problem of
    Northern Ireland high on the American agenda at a time when it seemed
    that there was no prospect for success. It's an easy thing to get
    involved in an issue when it's on the downhill side and it looks like
    it's going to succeed. President Clinton got involved in Northern
    Ireland when no one gave any chance for success.
        So the answer is yes, the President's role was critical. I don't
    think there would have been an agreement without his leadership and
    participate, and it began many years ago.

    Note: The exchange began at 2:35 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to Prime Minister Bertie
    Ahern of Ireland and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.
    Senator Mitchell, independent chairman of the multiparty talks in
    Northern Ireland, referred to David Trimble, Ulster Unionist Party
    leader. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
    exchange.