Northern Ireland’s political leaders have been told the Belfast Agreement serves as an example of democracy in action during a period when it is under threat across the world.
Former US president Bill Clinton told an event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the agreement that it was a “jewel” in a world “where there are people who are aggressively trying to destroy the very idea of popular democracy”.
Addressing an audience that included DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, as well as those leaders responsible for striking the 1998 deal, Mr Clinton said Northern Ireland had the “option of paralysis now”.
“It’s a pain in the rear to you because you have the option of paralysis now. Because we require consent, we require compromise, we require this. Be proud of it. Keep the cranes up, keep the voices free, keep the votes fair. You’ll figure it out,” he said.
The Building Peace: 20 Years on From the Belfast Agreement conference at Queen’s University, Belfast, heard repeated encouragement for the North’s political leaders to strike a deal to re-establish the Stormont executive after more than a year without devolved government.
Mr Clinton took part in a panel discussion with former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former UK prime minister Tony Blair. It was chaired by former US senator George Mitchell, who led the talks that led to the signing of the agreement.
Mr Clinton held separate meetings with Ms McDonald and Ms Foster. From the stage during the seminar, he said his view was of “Arlene and Mary Lou sitting in the same row”.
“We just gotta get them sitting next to each other,” he said.
Preserving democracy
“In the wake of all this tribalism going on all over the world today... the Good Friday Agreement is a work of genius that is applicable if you care at all about preserving democracy.
“It called for real democracy: majority rule, minority rights, individual rights, the rule of law, the end of violence, shared political decision-making, shared economic benefits. Shared special relations.
“Let future demographic, economic and political changes take Northern Ireland where it would go. It was a work of surpassing genius.”
Mr Clinton said democracy could no longer be taken for granted.
“How did we blow it when Russia had a chance? When China seemed to be opening to the world, is this a closure when the leader of China says ‘I want to lead for life.’
“What does it mean when Hungary, a country that almost certainly would not be free had it not been for decades and decades of support from the United Kingdom and the United States, from Nato, has a leader who says he thinks Russia is a better model for them than parliamentary democracy?”
Mr Ahern said the politicians of 20 years ago all shared a view that they should “hold our aspirations but at the same time get honourable compromises”.
He said people thought it was “almost impossible” to solve the violence in Northern Ireland.
Depressing
“It was always the sad, hard, depressing but factual news of what was happening in Northern Ireland, in this great city, and in the Republic to a lesser extent. Thirty people a month for 30 years dying. All that we wanted to do was to give impetus and direction to a process.”
Mr Blair said he was a passionate opponent of Brexit, and believed it would be a disaster for the Belfast Agreement. All concerned would have to “work at it and overcome it”, and to ensure there was no hard border in Ireland.
On the future of the political institutions in the North, Mr Blair encouraged leaders to make compromise.
“I always think the biggest test in politics is not getting up and saying yes to your supporters, it is getting up and saying no. This Good Friday agreement, for all its faults, is something that was worth doing, and is worth keeping.”
