I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had to work for peace with the people and leaders of Northern Ireland, along with the leaders of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, writes Bill Clinton.
I WATCHED THE Troubles unfold while I was a student at Oxford University in England from 1968 to 1970. My interest in Ireland runs deep. My mother's family, the Cassidys, are from Co Fermanagh, their oldest known house a modest dwelling in the village of Rosslea on the border of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. My late stepfather, Dick Kelley, was also a very proud Irishman.
By 1992, when I ran for president, a quarter-century of violence had claimed more than 3,300 lives in Northern Ireland. For more than 20 years, the strong relationship between London and Washington, as well as the politics of the Cold War, had kept America on the sidelines of this "internal British issue".
During the 1992 campaign, I was invited to a late-night meeting in New York with the Irish Issues Forum, organised by Assemblyman John Dearie. It included Paul O'Dwyer, his son Brian, Bruce Morrison and about a hundred other Irish activists. The group urged me to commit to appoint a special US envoy to Northern Ireland and to grant Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams a visa to visit the United States if I were elected president.
After a long discussion, I said that I would do both and get the United States, with its large Irish diaspora, more involved in the peace process.
The folks from the Irish Issues Forum urged me to move on the issue as soon as I took office, but it was not until the end of the year that I saw an opening to do so. On December 15th, 1993, the then taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, and the British prime minister, John Major, signed a joint declaration in which the United Kingdom pledged, for the first time, that the status of Northern Ireland would be determined by its people, and Ireland renounced its historic claim to the six counties in the North until a majority of its people voted to support it.
The joint declaration addressed the key demands of both sides. For the predominantly Catholic nationalist community, it provided a peaceful possibility of joining Ireland in the future; for the predominantly Protestant unionist community, it provided assurances that there would be no change without the consent of the majority. The door for peace had been opened - the question was whether anyone would walk through it.
Within Northern Ireland, Gerry Adams had been working hard to move his party and the IRA toward peace. He had been in secret negotiations with leaders of the Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), including John Hume, who had long and bravely opposed violence.
Hume and Adams had been seeking a way to secure an IRA ceasefire, which they hoped would be joined by the loyalist paramilitaries. The joint declaration gave new momentum to their efforts.
But Adams also needed the backing of the Irish in America. To get it, he wanted to visit the United States to talk to his broad base of support here. Irish Americans again pressed me to fulfil my campaign promise and grant a visa to Adams. The issue sparked an intense argument within my cabinet and White House staff.
At the time, because the IRA was on our list of terrorist organisations, Adams was barred from visiting the United States. Our law enforcement agencies and the relevant departments of government - including the Justice Department and the FBI - adamantly opposed granting the visa, fearing Adams would use the visit to raise funds for the IRA.
The State Department also strongly opposed it because they feared it would badly strain relations with the UK, at a time when we needed to work together closely on Iraq and in ending the horrible violence in Bosnia. They also believed that changing our position would weaken the credibility of America's stance against terrorism around the globe. Not surprisingly, the British ambassador supported the State Department's position.
I understood the concern about sending the wrong signal on terrorism, but I also saw there might be an opening to end the violence in Northern Ireland, and in so doing, to make the case that political problems are better solved by talk than terror. Irish Americans argued forcefully that the visa would strengthen Adams' leverage with the IRA to push for an end to the violence.
John Hume, whose devotion to non-violence was beyond question, was also supportive of the visa, as was Albert Reynolds. The US ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, and several leaders in the US Congress also favoured granting it, though other members with a heavy interest in Ireland were opposed. After hearing from all sides, my White House advisers came down in favour of granting the visa as the essential next step in advancing the peace process.
As I mulled the decision and its implications, I remembered something Yitzhak Rabin had said to me a few months earlier on the day he and Yasser Arafat signed their agreement at the White House: "You don't make peace with your friends."
I DECIDED TO grant Gerry Adams a limited visa so that he could participate in a conference in New York on the prospects for peace. The visa restricted his ability to travel or fundraise in the United States. I admired John Major and Albert Reynolds for sticking their necks out with the joint declaration, and I hoped that the visa would boost Adams' determination and ability to stick his neck out for an end to the violence.
On January 31st, 1994, Adams came to the United States and pledged that Sinn Féin would make positive decisions. Later that year, in August 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire; in October, paramilitaries linked to the loyalists did the same. The visa decision was vindicated.
Difficult times still lay ahead, of course. To keep things moving in the right direction, the end of violence had to bring tangible benefits to the people. As Yeats said: "Too long a sacrifice can make stone of the heart".
We organised a trade and investment conference in May 1995 in Washington DC, to help promote jobs in Northern Ireland. Unemployment rates for both communities were significantly higher than for others in the United Kingdom. In some Catholic neighbourhoods in west Belfast, unemployment rates neared 80 per cent.
The 1995 meeting gave leaders from both communities a chance to bring jobs home. It also provided cover for all political parties from Northern Ireland to talk to each other and be seen doing so in a way that was good for ordinary citizens within their communities. Afterward, I sent commerce secretary Ron Brown on several trips to Ireland and Northern Ireland to promote economic growth. And in 1995 I appointed George Mitchell to be my special adviser for economic initiatives on Ireland - in effect making good on my promise to appoint a special envoy.
Over the years, their efforts - and those of the enterprising people of Northern Ireland - began to deliver real results. Between 1992 and 2000, Northern Ireland's GDP grew by 26 per cent and unemployment fell by 40 per cent. Such prosperity demonstrated that peace needn't be a zero sum game; all can benefit. To this day, this is one of the enduring lessons of Northern Ireland for me.
Another key reason the peace process worked in Northern Ireland is the strong support it received from grassroots citizen groups, especially the women's organisations. They understood the costs of the violence. They cared for the children, struggling to keep them fed and clothed as their husbands struggled to find work.
I am especially proud of Hillary's efforts to encourage and support women's groups to increase their political and economic impact through the Vital Voices initiative. She worked closely with community leaders like Inez McCormack, May Blood, Avila Kilmurray and many others who made a critical contribution to the process.
As prosperity grew, the peace process moved forward, despite repeated obstacles. In November 1995, John Major and the new taoiseach John Bruton announced a creative way to address the stalled process and the prickly issue of arms decommissioning. Their "twin tracks" initiative offered a diplomatic framework for separate negotiations on arms decommissioning and political issues.
The agreement was reached moments before Hillary and I and our delegation touched down in the United Kingdom to begin an historic visit to Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland.
John Major said at the time that my imminent arrival "concentrated the mind".
I was the first sitting American president to visit Northern Ireland. I was deeply moved by my encounters with the people, hearing their stories, hardships and hopes, and feeling their intense support for the peace process and for America's role in it. In Derry, 25,000 people filled the Guildhall Square to greet us; 50,000 joined us to light the Christmas tree in Belfast. In my remarks, I quoted the writing of a 14-year old girl: "Both sides have been hurt. Both sides must forgive." Her wise observations captured the hunger of ordinary citizens for peace.
That night, Hillary and I stayed at the Europa Hotel, which had been bombed many times during the Troubles. Now it was safe enough for an American president and his family. The next morning, we visited Dublin, where 100,000 people gathered in College Green, and I asked them, as I had asked the people of Northern Ireland the day before, to set an example that would inspire the world.
Over the next couple of years, the peace process grew. My good friend George Mitchell deserves special credit for its success.
His years of patient negotiations as Senate Majority leader had honed his unique ability to listen to all sides, then bring parties together with strong support from Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern.
His brilliant and committed negotiations, and the years of hard work of many leaders produced the Good Friday accords on April 10th, 1998.
On the last night, I stayed up all night making phone calls, working with George, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern to cajole the parties toward peace. The accords were a tribute to them and to others, including John Major, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, David Trimble, John Hume, Seamus Mallon, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
During the years since, there have been ups and downs, and the people have been tested. But the peace has held, with tangible benefits - stability, education, new jobs - slowly displacing any lingering impetus to return to violence.
In the years since I left office, the leaders have kept both Hillary and me up to date on their efforts and from time to time have asked us to support them.
I was thrilled when self-governance was re-established last year, with Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness in the lead, their partnership a perfect metaphor for the long journey both communities have made together.
The Irish peace has inspired a world weary of wars to keep searching for common ground. I hope the Irish example will encourage people in Kosovo, Sri Lanka, South Asia, Latin America, Africa and of course, the Middle East to keep striving for genuine reconciliation, the blessings of normal life, and brighter tomorrows for our children.
Bill Clinton was US president for two terms, from 1993 to 1997 and 1997 to 2001.