THE proper position for the United States concerning the Northern Ireland peace talks was "not to dictate the results", but to help the people to agree among themselves, the chairman of the talks, former Senator George Mitchell, has said here.
Mr Mitchell was speaking at a books hop discussion of his new book, Not for America Alone - the Triumph of Democracy and the Fall of Communism.
Many of the questions from his audience in the books hop were about the situation in Northern Ireland.
Asked about the role the US should play, Mr Mitchell said: "I think the proper role for the United States, for the President and me, is not to dictate the results. It's not up to us to tell people how to compose their differences. We should be, and are, trying to create the circumstances under which they can agree among themselves."
Mr Mitchell said that when the talks began a year ago there was "an atmosphere of mistrust and disbelief that it is difficult for an outsider to comprehend until you actually get into it". The most one could say after a year was that "the talks still go on", he said.
"This sounds like a small accomplishment, but as one participant pointed out recently, everyone felt and feels that as soon as the talks would end unsuccessfully, the war would resume.
"So it is an accomplishment to keep the talks going and to keep the war from resuming full blast" he said.
Asked how he interpreted the recent election to the British parliament of Sinn Fein members Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness, Mr Mitchell said it "certainly gave them a basis for the argument that they should be included in the talks process the same as everyone else, but the two governments have established a policy that they will be admitted when there is a resumption of the ceasefire.
"I hope that there will be a resumption of the ceasefire because it is the right thing to do and that there will then be an all inclusive dialogue where the parties can try and compose their differences in a peaceful way," Mr Mitchell said.