EXCLUSIVE BY PETER KELLY
Giants of trans-Atlantic politics gathered in Belfast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Former Irish peace talks chairman Senator George Mitchell led the US delegation featuring former President and Secretary Clinton, President Biden’s Special Envoy Joe Kennedy, previous White House envoys, Congress members and diplomats in the star-studded gathering.
Delegates were addressed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheál Martin, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the EU’s Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic to mark the successes of the Belfast Agreement famously signed on April 10, 1998. Former Presidents of Ireland, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese participated in the multi-platform discussions, which also featured former Agreement supremos Sir Tony Blair and ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
The Northern Irish parties that had negotiated and achieved the original accord were also represented alongside the DUP, who were obstructively anti-Agreement and who remain opposed to current power-sharing government in the North.
Senator Mitchell spoke of the momentous occasion, as he recalled the signing of the Belfast Agreement. “Twenty-five years ago the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders changed the course of history,” he said. “It is unmistakably clear that people do not want to return to violence. Not now, not ever.”
To a hushed auditorium, George Mitchell confided that his wife urged him to keep returning to the North for the sake of the 61 children born locally on the same day as their new baby. “If you do not go back and fighting resumes, you will not be able to live with yourself,” she told him.
The former Maine diplomat, now 89 years old revealed that he is undergoing treatment for leukemia and defied medical advice to travel to Belfast to address the conference, such is his emotional bond with Northern Ireland. He received a standing ovation after his 45 minute keynote address and was then joined by President and Secretary Clinton and Sir Tony Blair when a bust was unveiled to him outside Queen’s University, where he served as Chancellor.
The Agreement’s co-signatory, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern paid tribute to the Clinton White House involvement in securing peace. Referencing his working relationship with the former president, he said: “You were there all the time for us.” He revealed that for almost a year prior to Good Friday, he was in 10 Downing Street almost every week working with Tony Blair. “I think I hold the record for an Irish Taoiseach for that,” Ahern joked.
Former President Bill Clinton confirmed that his Irish-American advisers warned him of the political dangers of appointing a special envoy to the North, now a regular feature in trans-Atlantic relations. He said, “They told me: ‘You have no idea how hard it is going to be for you to keep this commitment. People will think you’re insane’.” Clinton also spoke of his risk for peace by granting the 1994 visa to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. “At the time it was crazy, they thought. I thought it made all the sense in the world. And the rest is history.”
Speaking from the illustrious podium at Queen’s University, most leaders crafted their words carefully, given the current logjam in the North’s politics and sensitive relations with the DUP. However, In a not-so-subtle reference to today’s political deadlock, former British Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair advised Stormont’s leaders: “You know in your heart of hearts what the right thing to do is and you should just get on and do it.”
Current British government Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris added his voice of concern to DUP observers present. In direct and intentional remarks aimed at the nay-saying politicians he added his objection to the ongoing suspension of the Belfast parliament, chiding, “Real leaders know when to say yes.” Britain’s top politician in the North then pointedly described the continuing Stormont stalemate as “the single biggest threat to the union.”
The three day conference produced an unprecedented security operation, with US Secret Service and PSNI observing strict safety around the high profile participants. The conference was divided into three themes of ‘Reflect, Renew and Reimagine’. Special tributes were made to deceased former peacemakers and negotiators, including John Hume, David Trimble, Mo Mowlam, David Trimble, Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness and David Ervine.