CLINTON VISIT:FORMER US president Bill Clinton spoke yesterday of how a relatively low-key public response to his visit to Derry yesterday was a "good thing" because it demonstrated that peace was established in the North.
Mr Clinton also proposed a series of measures that he believed would generate thousands of jobs and help Northern Ireland emerge from its financial problems.
His lecture at the Magee campus of the University of Ulster in Derry focused on the economy and came in advance of the US/Northern Ireland economic conference in Washington on October 19th that his wife, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, is hosting.
After arriving in Derry yesterday morning he held a private meeting with the former SDLP leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume and later at Magee held discussions with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Accompanied by Mrs Clinton’s special envoy to Northern Ireland Declan Kelly, he also held discussions with business leaders about promoting the Northern Ireland economy.
On arrival at Magee he was applauded by a group of about 100 students and staff members who had gathered outside. In his lecture in the college’s great hall he made the point that such a relatively small greeting was far better than having to arrive to try to address a political crisis.
He told the politicians, academics, business leaders, students and other members of civic society that Northern Ireland would overcome the economic crisis. And referring to his rapturous reception in Derry in 1995 when he was US president he added: “This crisis is not good. It is never good go see people suffer but I would a lot rather come here after 15 years and see people doing their jobs, and a handful of people waving at me, than come back to a screaming throng . . . and 35,000 people who are looking for someone to ride to the rescue because the shooting is still going on.”
The 64-year-old, on his sixth visit to Northern Ireland, spoke of his involvement in the peace process and how it could be an example for other troubled regions. “Working on the Irish peace process was one of the two or three great honours of my life. I thank all of you for proving a thesis possible. Whenever people say we can’t do it in the Middle East, we can’t do it somewhere [else], we just draw Northern Ireland to them.”
Mr Clinton focused on five areas where he believed jobs could be created and business generated: sustainable energy, tourism, aquaculture, foreign investment and arts and crafts. He said developing wind, solar and other forms of green energy would create thousands of jobs. Tourism was seriously under-exploited, he believed. “I am constantly staggered by the amount of people who know nothing about Northern Ireland.”
Even winning for investment purposes a fraction of the $1.2 trillion that American corporations have in the banks would greatly benefit Northern Ireland. Derry winning the UK City of Culture 2013 award would contribute to the promotion of jobs through arts and crafts.
Mr Clinton said there were non-governmental groups worldwide “who really care what is happening in Northern Ireland and really want you to make a difference, who want to be able to hold you up as a shining light to all these places where people are still fighting”.
For all the economic difficulties facing the North he knew from his involvement in Asia, Haiti, South America and other regions there were people “who would kill to be in your economic fix . . . they would come here and they would not see a problem at all”.
Mr Clinton is in Dublin today for an event at the Clinton Institute of American Studies in UCD.