Bill Clinton calls for Ulster compromise in Dublin address
FORMER US President Bill Clinton yesterday led celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement.
Former Taoiseach: Wall in Ireland would be TORN down by people
But he warned that the current 15-month stalemate at Stormont which has left Ulster without a government would eventually reach its limit.
Mr Cinton called for voters to back politicians willing to compromise, saying it was easy to underestimate the fragility of the peace system set up after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which he helped create.
He told a Dublin audience: “No one will drop off the face of the Earth with any of the reasonable compromises that have been discussed.
"The only thing that would be calamitous would be to let the whole thing die.”
Bill Clinton addressed crowds in Dublin about the current Stormont standoff
Compromise has to become a good thing, not a dirty word
Mr Clinton pleaded for everybody not to go back to the “hell” of the past.
He said: “Compromise has to become a good thing, not a dirty word and voters have to stop punishing people who make those compromises and start rewarding them.”
Mr Clinton said too much paralysis meant voters could elect a dictator.
Later Mr Clinton joined Tony Blair and former Irish leader Bertie Ahern, key players in bringing about the deal, in marking the anniversary at Queen’s University in Belfast.