US/NORTHERN IRELAND: With the choice of Senator John Edwards of North Carolina as vice-presidential nominee, the Democratic ticket now has two candidates who have made strong statement in support of the peace process in Ireland.
Mr Edwards pledged his support for the Good Friday agreement in February. Ireland, he said, was one of America's most critical allies in Europe and he would work hard to support a strong US-Ireland relationship. "I am a strong supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process and believe that the US has a vital role to play," he said. The Good Friday agreement "provides the framework for the way forward for all the people of Northern Ireland, and I support its full implementation."
The necessary steps for peace "must include the end of paramilitary violence, demilitarisation and the enactment of justice and equality laws that serve all the people of Northern Ireland."
In a statement in November Senator John Kerry criticised President Bush's handling of the peace process and in a reference to the Democratic Unionist Party said: "The DUP cannot be permitted to disenfranchise half of the population of Northern Ireland by refusing to form a government with Sinn Féin."