[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 51 (Monday, December 23, 1996)]
[Pages 2522-2524]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister John Bruton of Ireland 
and an Exchange With Reporters

December 17, 1996

Irish Peace Process

    The President. Let me say I'm delighted to have Prime Minister 
Bruton here again today, along with the members of his government, and 
we're going to talk about Northern Ireland today. And I want to 
reiterate my call for the IRA to institute a cease-fire in words as well 
as deeds. If they do that, I am convinced that Sinn Fein will be invited 
to participate in the talks, and we believe that substantive and 
inclusive peace talks are the only way to resolve this.
    Meanwhile, the talks go on. Senator Mitchell is doing a terrific 
job. And I want to say also a word of appreciation to the Loyalists for 
holding the cease-fire. I think that's a very good thing. We can't make 
peace until we end violence, and that's what we're going to talk about 
today, how we can keep working on that.
    Q. Do they await the British elections, I mean, the question of 
movement and progress?
    The President. Maybe the Prime Minister ought to answer that.
    Prime Minister Bruton. I would like to say that I completely endorse 
what the President just said. On the contrary, I think an immediate 
cease-fire would have advantages that a postponed cease-fire wouldn't 
necessarily carry. I think it would set a policy position in regard to 
Sinn Fein's participation in talks in place before an election, which 
would carry through into the next British Parliament in a much more 
durable way, whereas a postponed cease-fire after the election would go 
into the term of office of a new government, with perhaps a new 
opposition, and there would be much less certainty about the response.

[[Page 2523]]

    So I agree entirely with what the President has said. I think from 
every point of view, the point of view of their own movement, from the 
point of view of maximum opportunity, from the point of view of maximum 
durability of inclusive talks--a cease-fire now is the right choice for 
the Republican movement to make. And I'm very, very heartened that the 
President has said that again in such clear terms.
    The President. The British and the Irish Governments have made 
enormous efforts here, but we can't succeed--or they can't succeed 
unless there is a cease-fire, an end to the violence, and we ultimately 
have inclusive talks. And I'm convinced that will happen if there is a 
cease-fire.

Legal Defense Fund

    Q. Mr. President, let me ask you about a domestic issue, sir. Is 
Charles Trie a friend of yours, and do you agree with the decision to 
return the money he attempted to deliver to your legal defense fund?
    The President. Yes, and yes.
    Q. Were you aware he was raising money for your legal defense fund?
    The President. Not till it came in. But I supported the decision. I 
was aware of the decision to return the money because--and I think in 
all these fundraising endeavors, the rules should be that all the checks 
should be checked to make sure that not only the fact but any even 
appearance of impropriety should be removed. And Mr. Cardozo was 
interested in the appearance of that, so was I, and that's why the 
decision was made. That's what our campaign did, and as the Democratic 
Party's people have said, that's what they should have done. But the 
campaign did it, the legal defense fund did it, and I think it was 
handled appropriately.
    Q. Is he a close friend of yours?
    The President. I've known him a long time. I knew him when he and 
his family came over and started a little restaurant about a mile from 
my home 20 years ago. And I saw them start with nothing and build up 
their family enterprise. They've worked very hard in this country, and 
they've done well.
    Q. Now we'll get a real story, when the Irish press comes in.
    The President. This will be like a Jesuitical examination. 
[Laughter]

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

Irish Peace Process

    Q. When you meet with Mr. Bruton today, do you think--there has been 
a lot of discussion over just what Sinn Fein has to do in order to get 
to the table, but is there anything else that Britain can also do to 
encourage Sinn Fein to get to the table at this point?
    The President. Well, that's what--we're going to discuss all of 
that. I just want to say again that first I appreciate what the Irish 
and British Governments have done to date. Secondly, I still believe the 
IRA should immediately call a cease-fire, in words as well as deeds. I'm 
convinced that Sinn Fein will be invited to participate in the talks if 
that happens. And I think inclusive talks are the only way to make 
peace.
    The talks will go on. Senator Mitchell, I think is doing a fine job, 
though Loyalists should be commended for holding the cease-fire. But 
peace will not come in the presence of violence; it must come with the 
absence of violence. I'm convinced of that. That's what we're going to 
talk about today.
    Q. Mr. President, in the event of an Irish cease-fire, do you 
believe--personally believe that Sinn Fein should get immediate and 
automatic access to the talks process?
    The President. Well, I believe that Sinn Fein would be invited to 
participate in the talks fairly soon thereafter. That's what I believe. 
But we have to talk about the details, you know. The Prime Minister has 
to keep me educated here. The texture of the Irish peace struggle is 
rather complex.
    Q. Mr. President, with all your foreign policy challenges in the 
second term, will Ireland still be a priority as it was in the first 
term?
    The President. Yes.
    Q. Mr. President, what was your reaction to this attempt to smear 
Martha Pope in some of the British newspapers?
    The President. She's a fine woman and a friend of mine. And I 
understand that the charge has been retracted. And if that's true, 
that's good. It should have been. We ought

[[Page 2524]]

to have more false charges retracted in this world, and I'm pleased by 
that.
    Q. Do you know anything about a possible cease-fire that would 
inject new life into the peace talks?
    The President. I know nothing more than you do probably about that. 
We're going to talk about it. I know we're working for it, and we'll 
keep working for it.
    Q. Mr. President, there is a perception that the talks in Northern 
Ireland are going nowhere at the moment, that an agreement on 
decommissioning which looked close this week is not now likely in the 
immediate term. Are you as pessimistic as some people are in Northern 
Ireland?
    The President. No, we can't afford pessimism. I mean, after all, if 
you just look at the whole sweep of events in the last 3 years or so and 
compare that to the previous 25 years, I still think that things are 
moving right along here. We're in a rough patch, but if we just keep at 
it, I think it will come out all right.
    Prime Minister Bruton. Exactly.

Note: The President spoke at 10:05 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Charles Yah Lin Trie, CEO, 
Diahatsu International Trading Co.; Michael H. Cardozo, executive 
director of the Presidential Legal Expense Trust; and Martha Pope, 
Deputy to the Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State 
for Economic Initiatives in Ireland. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.