President Clinton and Mr Tony Blair stood side by side yesterday and called on the people of Northern Ireland to seize the opportunity for peace and stability.
Mr Blair is tomorrow expected to make his third visit to Northern Ireland within two weeks to campaign for a Yes vote, although the fine detail of his programme has yet to be completed.
At a joint press conference after the EU-US summit in London yesterday, Mr Blair said the choice lay between "the agreement and everything slipping back . . . The easiest thing in politics is simply to say No. The easiest thing is to say `change is something I am afraid of'. I say to everyone who takes that attitude: reflect on what the future holds if there is a No vote."
Underlining his support for a resounding Yes vote in Friday's referendum, Mr Clinton appealed to voters to take a risk for peace. "I think the risk of doing this is so much smaller than the risk of letting it blow apart. I believe the voters who will vote No will be those who frankly don't trust the other side and don't feel they can trust the other side."
Irish-American Protestants and Catholics wanted to see stability in the North which would attract more investment. "If I were an Irish Protestant, which I am, living in Northern Ireland instead of the United States, I would be thin king about my daughter's future and her children's future . . . I believe a lot of undecided people will go and vote with their hopes instead of their fears."
He had decided not to visit Northern Ireland ahead of the referendum because he was satisfied that his joint television interview with Mr Blair at the weekend would get his message across effectively. However, he acknowledged that many party leaders had said it would not help. "I did not want to be a distraction," he added.
In an attempt to address unionist concerns about the future role of the RUC, the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, will visit Northern Ireland today accompanied by the Alliance Party leader, Lord Alderdice, to meet the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan.
They will also visit RUC officers in Newry and soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment in Armagh.
Mr Ashdown and the Tory leader, Mr William Hague, had been expected to make a joint visit to the North with the Prime Minister, but it was felt that separate visits targeting specific concerns would be more beneficial to the Yes campaign. The plans for Mr Hague's visit have not been finalised but he is expected to visit the North on Thursday.