[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 20 (Monday, May 19, 1997)]
[Pages 721-722]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Northern Ireland Peace Process Initiative by Prime 
Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom

May 16, 1997

    I welcome Prime Minister Blair's statement today on Northern Ireland 
as a balanced and constructive step toward restoring momentum to the 
peace process. His words offer hope and reassurance to the people of 
both of Northern Ireland's traditions.
    The Prime Minister has made clear that this British Government, like 
its predecessor,

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wants to see inclusive talks, but it will invite Sinn Fein to the 
negotiating table only on the basis of an unequivocal cease-fire. And he 
has taken the initiative in offering to meet with Sinn Fein, at the 
official level, to assess whether inclusive talks are possible on that 
basis. I urge Sinn Fein to take up this offer, and I pray it will bring 
about an end to the violence for good. Now is the time to open a new 
chapter in the history of this tragic conflict and achieve through 
dialog and negotiation the lasting settlement the people of Northern 
Ireland want and deserve.