REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Belfast, Northern Ireland)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 3, 1998



REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY


The Waterfront Hall
Laganside, Belfast, Northern Ireland



12:40 P.M. (L)


THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Lord Mayor Alderdice, First Minister
Trimble, Deputy First Minister Mallon, Mr. Prime Minister; to the
members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the citizens of Belfast and
Northern Ireland, it is an honor for me to be back here with the First
Lady, our delegation including two members of our Cabinet, distinguished
members of Congress, our Ambassador and Consul General, and, of course,
the best investment we ever made in Northern Ireland, Senator Mitchell.
(Applause.)

I want to begin very briefly by thanking Prime Minister Blair and
echoing his comments about the thoughts and prayers we have with the
passengers and families of the Swiss Air flight that crashed this
morning near Nova Scotia, Canada. The flight was en route to Geneva
from New York, and as I speak, Canadians are conducting an extensive
search operation. We hope for the best and we are deeply grieved that
this has occurred.

I would like to also begin just by simply saying thank you to the
leaders who have spoken before me -- to David Trimble and Seamus Mallon
-- to the party leaders and the other members of the Assembly whom I met
earlier today; to Tony Blair, and in his absence, to Prime Minster
Ahern; and to their predecessors with whom I have worked -- Prime
Ministers Bruton and Reynolds and Major.

This has been a magic thing to see unfold -- this developing will for
peace among the people of Northern Ireland. Three years ago, when
Hillary and I were here, I could see it in the eyes of the people in
Belfast and Derry. We saw, as Seamus Mallon said, the morning light
began to dawn after Ireland's long darkness on Good Friday with the
leaders' commitment to solve your problems with words, not weapons. It
lit the whole sky a month later when you voted so overwhelmingly for the
peace agreement. Now this Assembly is the living embodiment of the
promise of that covenant.

Together, people and leaders are moving Northern Ireland from the
deep freeze of despair to the warm sunlight of peace. For 30 long years
the Troubles took a terrible toll; too many died, too many families
grieved, every family was denied the quiet blessings of a normal life --
in the constant fear that a simple trip to the store could be devastated
by bombs and bullets; in the daily disruptions of roadblocks and
searches; in the ominous presence of armed soldiers always on patrol; in
neighborhoods demarcated by barbed wire, guarded gates, and 20-foot
fences.

No wonder this question was painted on a Belfast wall: Is there
life before death? Now at last, your answer is, yes.

From here on, the destiny of Northern Ireland is in the hands of
its people and its representatives. From farming to finance, education
to health care, this new Assembly has the opportunity and the obligation
to forge the future. The new structures of cooperation you have
approved can strengthen the quality of your ties to both London and
Dublin, based on the benefits of interdependence, not the burdens of
division or dominance. In peace you can find new prosperity, and I
heard your leaders seeking it.

Since the 1994 cease-fire, the number of passengers coming to and
from your international airport and ferry port has increased more than
15 percent. The number of hotel rooms under construction has doubled.
And in the wake of the Good Friday agreement, you are projected to
receive record levels of investment, foreign and domestic, bringing new
jobs, opportunity, and hope.

The United States has supported your quest for peace, starting
with Irish Americans, whose commitment to this cause is passionate,
profound, and enduring. It has been one of the great privileges of my
presidency to work with the peacemakers, Protestant and Catholic leaders
here in the North -- Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Ahern. Our
Congress, as you can see if you had visited with our delegation, has
reached across its own partisan divide for the sake of peace in Northern
Ireland. I hope some of it will infect their consciousness as they go
back home. (Laughter.)

They -- extraordinary support for the International Fund for
Ireland, the $100 million over the past five years. I am delighted that
there are both Republican and Democratic members with me today, as well
as Jim Lyons, my special advisor for economic initiatives in Northern
Ireland, and Senator Mitchell, whom you welcomed so warmly and justly a
few moments ago.

In the months and years ahead, America will continue to walk the
road of renewal with you. We will help to train your Assembly members,
support NGOs that are building civil societies from the grass roots,
invest in our common future through education, promote cross-border and
cross-community understanding, create with you microcredit facilities to
help small businesses get off the ground, support the trade and
investment that will benefit both our people.

I thank the Secretary of Education for being with us today, and
the Secretary of Commerce who led a trade mission here in June, already
showing results. Chancellor Brown takes the next important step with
his mission to 10 American cities next month. As you work to change the
face and future of Northern Ireland, you can count on America.

Of course, for all we can and will do, the future still is up to
you. You have agreed to bury the violence of the past; now you have to
build a peaceful and prosperous future. To the members of the Assembly,
you owe it to your country to nurture the best in your people by showing
them the best in yourselves. Difficult, sometimes wrenching decisions
lie ahead, but they must be made. And because you have agreed to share
responsibilities, whenever possible you must try to act in concert, not
conflict; to overcome obstacles, not create them; to rise above petty
disputes, not fuel them.

The Latin word for assembly, "concilium," is the root of the word,
"reconciliation." The spirit of reconciliation must be rooted in all
you do.

There is another quality you will need, too. Our only Irish
Catholic President, John Kennedy, loved to quote a certain British
Protestant Prime Minister. "Courage," Winston Churchill said, "is
rightly esteemed as the first of all qualities because it is the quality
that guarantees all the others."

Courage and reconciliation were the heart of your commitment to
peace. Now, as you go forward, courage and reconciliation must drive
this Assembly in very specific ways: to decommission the weapons of war
that are obsolete in Northern Ireland at peace; to move forward with the
formation of an executive council; to adapt your police force so that it
earns the confidence, respect and support of all the people; to end
street justice, because defining crime, applying punishment and
enforcing the law must be left to the people's elected representatives,
the courts and the police; to pursue early release for prisoners whose
organizations have truly abandoned violence, and to help them find a
productive, constructive place in society; to build a more just society
where human rights are birthrights and where every citizen receives
equal protection and equal treatment under the law. These must be the
benchmarks of the new Northern Ireland.

I must say, the words and the actions of your leaders this week,
and their willingness to meet are hopeful reflections of the spirit of
courage and reconciliation that must embrace all the citizens. Also
hopeful are the activities of the community leaders here today, the
non-governmental organizations, those in business, law and academia.
And especially I salute the women who have been such a powerful force
for peace. Hillary had a wonderful day yesterday at your Vital Voices
conference. And as she said, we are pledged to follow up on the
partnerships established there.

All your voices are vital. The example you set among your
neighbors, the work you do in your communities, the standards you demand
from your elected officials -- all these will have a very, very large
impact on your future. And to the people of Northern Ireland I say it
is your will for peace, after all, that has brought your country to this
moment of hope. Do not let it slip away. It will not come again in our
lifetime. Give your leaders the support they need to make the hard, but
necessary decisions. With apologies to Mr. Yeats, help them to prove
that things can come together, that the center can hold.

You voted for a future different from the past. Now you must
prove that the passion for reason and moderation can trump the power of
extremes. There will be hard roads ahead. The terror in Omagh was not
the last bomb of the Troubles; it was the opening shot of a vicious
attack on the peace. The question is not whether there will be more
bombs and more attempts to undo with violence the verdict of the ballot
box. There well may be. The question is not whether tempers will flare
and debates will be divisive. They certainly will be. The question is:
How will you react to it all -- to the violence? How will you deal with
your differences? Can the bad habits and brute forces of yesterday
break your will for tomorrow's peace? That is the question.

In our so-called modern world, from Bosnia to the Middle East,
from Rwanda to Kosovo, from the Indian subcontinent to the Aegean,
people still hate each other over their differences of race, tribe, and
religion, in a fruitless struggle to find meaning in life in who we are
not, rather than asking God to help us become what we ought to be. From
here on in Northern Ireland, you have said only one dividing line
matters -- the line between those who embrace peace and those who would
destroy it, between those energized by hope and those paralyzed by
hatred, between those who choose to build up and those who want to keep
on tearing down.

So much more unites you than divides you -- the values of faith
and family, work and community, the same land and heritage, the same
love of laughter and language. You aspire to the same things -- to live
in peace and security, to provide for your loved ones, to build a better
life and pass on brighter possibilities to your children. These are not
Catholic or Protestant dreams, these are human dreams, to be realized
best together.

The American people, as the Lord Mayor noted, know from our own
experience about bigotry and violence rooted in race and religion.
Still today, we struggle with the challenge of building one nation out
of our increasing diversity. But it is worth the effort. We know we
are wiser, stronger, and happier when we stand on common ground. And we
know you will be, too.

And so, members of the Assembly, citizens of Belfast, people of
Northern Ireland, remember that in the early days of the American
republic, the Gaelic term for America was "Inis Fa'il" island of
destiny. Today, Americans see you as Inis Fa'il, and your destiny is
peace. America is with you. The entire world is with you. May God be
with you and give you strength for the good work ahead.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END 1:00 P.M. (L)