    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [March 16, 2000]
    [Pages 479-481]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at an American Ireland Fund Dinner
    March 16, 2000

        President Glucksman, Mr.
    Aikins, Senator Mitchell, members of the administration and Congress who are here,
    and our distinguished Ambassadors of the United States to
    Ireland and Ireland to the United
    States. To all the leaders of the parties
    from Northern Ireland who are here; Secretary Mandelson; and in his absence, from his video, I would also say I
    very much appreciate what Tony Blair said earlier. And most of all, to
    you, Taoiseach, I thank you. I thank you for
    the award, and I thank the American Ireland Fund for all it has done for
    peace and progress in Ireland.
        And I want to say that this is about the most beautiful piece of
    Irish crystal I've ever seen. It also bears, as my wife said, a
    remarkable resemblance to a golf ball. [Laughter] And it is only for
    that reason, and because he does not play, that I do not feel
    constrained to let it reside for half a year with George Mitchell--
    [laughter]--to whom we are all profoundly
    indebted.
        You know, basically, I don't believe that Presidents should get
    awards. The job itself is reward enough. But I'm honored and pleased to
    have this one, because, for me, the work for peace that I have done and
    our administration--Hillary, through
    the Vital Voices networks--it's been a labor of love at all hours of the
    day and night and through many months of frustration, through all of the
    efforts I've made just to understand, sometimes, the fights which seem
    to me to be inexplicable.
        So much has been accomplished in the last 2 years especially, but
    really over the last almost 8 years. At the moment, we wish that the
    institutions were up, not down; we wish that everybody was in agreement,
    not feeling frustrated; but we must never forget that the ceasefires now
    are measured in years, not weeks, that people now shop in their
    downtowns without fear of bombs going off, that the gradual return to
    normal life was again reflected today in the announcement of the British
    Government that further troops will be redeployed for duty outside
    Northern Ireland, leaving no army battalion resident in Belfast for the
    first time in 31 years.
        More than 300 prisoners from both sides have been released. Human
    rights and equality commissions have been formed. Police reform is
    underway, and we are looking forward to the reform of the criminal
    justice system. A peace dividend has begun to take hold in Northern
    Ireland's economy: more people employed there than ever before,
    unemployment the lowest in 20 years. tourists up by 11 percent last year
    alone, American visitors doubling in the last decade, rising investment
    in trade, an economy becoming as modern as that of her Irish and British
    counterparts.
        I am very proud of the role the United States has played in this
    economic rebirth as well. The International Fund for Ireland, to which
    we are the largest donor, has leveraged a billion and a half dollars of
    direct investment, helping to create over 30,000 jobs. The Walsh visa
    program will bring thousands of young Irish men and women to the United
    States for education and training, especially in high-tech areas. Our
    new microlending program, Aspire, is inspiring small business and
    entrepreneurs at a rapid rate.
        And as the Taoiseach said, a year ago at this time, the people of
    Northern Ireland did not

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    enjoy self-rule. Last year, the assembly was established, the
    executives, the bodies were put to work, and lo and behold, the Irish
    were pretty good at self-government in the North as well. Ministers from
    both sides met together, worked together, took care of constituents
    together, made mistakes together and learned together, just the sort of
    thing democratic governments ought to do everywhere. They were
    successfully tackling some of their toughest shared problems and
    building structures for cross-border cooperation with the Irish
    Republic.
        Now what? Well, we must begin by respecting the will of the people.
    After all, they voted in record numbers not for stalemate and delay but
    for progress and peace. The threat of violence from whatever source must
    be removed forever from Northern Ireland's politics, clearly and
    unequivocally.
        At the same time, the people have the right to expect their leaders,
    with the support of the Irish and British Governments, to show vision
    and good will, to come together to establish a basis upon which the new
    institutions can be restored and the Good Friday accord can be
    implemented in full, just as the people voted.
        The United States and all the friends of peace must do all we can to
    assist, to honor the heroic efforts of Senator Mitchell, to reaffirm our lasting pledge that so long as the
    people of Northern Ireland walk the road of peace, we will walk with
    you. Tomorrow at the White House I will be discussing this with the
    parties and listening and working for an answer.
        The last century began with bloodshed across Ireland, and across the
    United States in our cities, signs that read, ``No Irish need apply.''
    This one begins with the best hope for Irish peace in our lifetimes and
    with Irish and Americans of every background gathered in Washington to
    rejoice in Ireland's rich contributions to America's national life.
        I don't know that I've had so much to do with this, the progress
    that has been made. Tonight I am more burdened by the fact that I have
    not found an answer for the present stalemate. But I will say this: I
    have loved Ireland. My wife and my
    daughter have loved Ireland, North and
    South. We love the music, the dance, the language, the land.
        If Mr. Yeats was right when he said, ``Our glory begins and ends in
    our friends,'' I can say truly, I have simply tried to be a friend. But
    as a friend who, unlike Taoiseach here, has a
    term limit and, therefore, who no longer has to stand for election, I
    must honestly say that I have spent an enormous amount of time as
    President comforting the victims of violence, mostly Americans, the
    people who died in Croatia trying to help overcome ethnic and religious
    hatred in the Balkans, the people who died in a terrorist bombing in the
    Middle East trying to help the people of that land and region find a
    different way, Irish victims of the Omagh bombing, the children's
    families who died in the school shootings in America, and on and on.
        And I have spent a great deal of time trying to decide exactly what
    it is that makes people define the meaning of their lives in terms of
    their difference--their religion, their racial, their ethnic, their
    tribal differences--and how those differences come to be magnified in
    our minds along with the accumulated grievances of past wrongs, so that
    we are paralyzed to turn the clenched fist into the open hand, and how
    even when we start--and what a start we have made in Ireland--it is just
    hard to go on and easy to stop.
        I must confess, as your friend, I still do not know the answer to
    these things. But I do know that life is fleeting, and opportunities
    come and also go. We have the chance of a lifetime here. You have done
    it--all of you, the Irish parties, have done this. The British have done
    it. We Americans, we've just been friends. But good friends tell each
    other the truth, the loving truth. Whatever the differences, it's not
    worth another life--not one. It's not worth another day's delay, much
    less a year. We're all just passing through this old world with an
    amount of time which we know not.
        We're really happy and proud to be here tonight because we sense
    that good things have happened because people rose above their fears,
    their hatred, their honest wounds, their deep scars, to give a better
    future to their children. They're still out there, and they're still
    waiting. We have to find a way to put this back on track. And if we do,
    everyone will win. And that beautiful crystal piece there, it'll be a
    crystal ball, showing a way to our children's tomorrow.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:42 p.m. in the Center Hall at the
    National Building Museum. In his remarks, he referred to Loretta Brennan

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    Glucksman, president, and Kingsley Aikins, executive director, American
    Ireland Fund; former Senator George J. Mitchell, who chaired the
    multiparty talks in Northern Ireland; U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Michael
    J. Sullivan; Irish Ambassador Sean O'hUiginn; Secretary of State for
    Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the
    United Kingdom; and Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland. Prior to his
    remarks the President received the American Ireland Fund's Millennium
    Peace Award.