[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[December 12, 2000]
[Pages 2684-2686]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Bertie
Ahern of Ireland in Dublin
December 12, 2000
President's Visit to Ireland
Q. Mr. President, why do you keep coming back to Ireland?
The President. Well, I got invited. And you know, I've had a special
interest, in my tenure here, in the peace process. And the Taoiseach and
Prime Minister Blair have worked hard, as the
parties in Northern Ireland have, and there's still a little work to be
done. So I thought maybe if I came back, I could help a little, and I
hope I can.
[[Page 2685]]
Northern Ireland Peace Process
Q. What's your message to the politicians, to the people of Northern
Ireland and, indeed, to the paramilitaries?
The President. Well, first, I think the people, by and large, have
embraced the peace and are in some ways leading the process. And I don't
think they want to go back. I think the leadership of the Irish
Government, the Taoiseach particularly, and the support of the British
Government have helped. I think the incredible success of the Irish
economy has helped.
I think people can see the benefits of peace. So my message is, to
those parties which aren't involved in the process, they ought to join
and not wreck it. There's too much to be gained, and too much has
already been gained. And to those who are part of the process and have
disagreements, I hope they'll try to work them out.
Q. Mr. President, do you care to comment on the suggestion that
after you leave the White House, you might be prepared to become a
special peace envoy to Ireland?
The President. [Laughter] Well, I think the new President, whoever
it may be, will want to have a new team in place, and I will support
that. I want to support whatever decisions the new administration makes
on foreign policy. And if I can be a resource, I will. If I can ever
help the Irish, of course I will.
But I think in terms of my Government's representation, that will be
entirely up to the new President, and I will support whatever decisions
are made on that.
Q. Taoiseach, do you expect the President's visit, and especially
the visit to Belfast tomorrow, to move the process forward? At the
moment, it's caught up in the old difficulties over demilitarization--
and all the rest of it. Do you expect the President----
Prime Minister Ahern. Well, first, I say it's a great honor for us
in the Irish Government and, I think, everybody in Ireland that the
President is here. He is more and more welcome than I think even his
other two visits. We're so pleased, and I think everybody in this
country is pleased, and all of you in the media know that from the
reaction over the last number of weeks since it was confirmed.
Of course I think the President can help. To expect all of the
problems to be resolved in one go, of course, is impractical. But the
very fact the President's coming has helped in the last few weeks for
people to focus on still what are difficulties and to try to narrow down
those difficulties and to look at the possibilities--and they are only
possibilities--of what we can do.
I know that the talks we'll have now, the talks during the course of
the day and tomorrow and the visit to Dundalk tonight, will allow people
to see all that we have achieved. And I think now, what we're doing is,
we're dealing with some of the side issues that are still residual
issues out of the Good Friday agreement, and we still have to deal with
those. And we are dealing with them, and this visit will help that.
Q. Taoiseach, will you miss Bill Clinton when he steps down?
Prime Minister Ahern. I will, yes. No doubt about that.
Q. Mr. President, when you were here, you called on the parties to
take a risk for peace. Are we now at a situation where you will call on
the parties again to take a further risk?
The President. Well, I think we have to keep going. I don't think
there's--I don't think reversal is an option. And as I said, the people
are not there. It's obvious to me, from all the human contact, just the
increasing cross-border contacts, that the people want this thing to go
on. And I think the leaders just have to find a way through the last
three or four difficult issues, and I think it can be done.
I'll do what I can to be helpful.
Q. You really care about this, don't you?
The President. Yes, I do. I always have. You know--let me just say,
the Americans--you know, the American people, about 40 million of us
have some Irish blood. And we also have had a unique relationship with
Great Britain. It's been--I mean, they burned the White House in 1814,
but since then it's been pretty good. [Laughter] You know, we fought two
World Wars together; we stayed through the cold war together. And the
way it used to be was a source of immense pain to a lot of Americans.
Many of the American people who have wanted to be involved had no
constructive way to do that. And I hope and believe we've changed that
over the last 8 years.
So to me, it's just a question of you've just got to keep going and
keep bringing more and more and more people in, because the Irish have
proved that you can do this.
[[Page 2686]]
I said something before when I was here, I'll say again: I don't
think you can possibly imagine the impact of a success in the Irish
peace process on trouble spots throughout the world. That's another
thing that's been very important to me as the President of the United
States, because I have to be involved in Latin America and Asia and
Africa, the Balkans.
And so I care a lot about this. But I also--I want you to know how
much people around the world look to your--and draw courage from what
you do here.
Note: The exchange began at 12:15 p.m. in the Office of the Taoiseach.
In his remarks, the President referred to Prime Minister Tony Blair of
the United Kingdom. A tape was not available for verification of the
content of this exchange.