FACT: U.S. SUPPORT FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 
FACT SHEET: U.S. Support for Peace and Prosperity in Northern Ireland

For decades, the United States has supported the efforts of the people and leaders of Northern Ireland to realize a prosperous, lasting peace.

Promoting Peace and Prosperity

The United States has always stood with the people of Northern Ireland and will continue to do so as they continue to build a strong society, vibrant economy, and enduring peace.  We remain fully committed to promoting a lasting peace, advancing prosperity for all, and supporting Northern Ireland’s institutions.  The United States is proud of all that Northern Ireland has achieved, including the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and 2007 St. Andrews Agreement.  We encourage the political parties of Northern Ireland to renew their efforts on the all-party talks to tackle sensitive issues such as parades, flags/symbols, and matters dealing with the past.

Collaborating on Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation

From 1986 to 2014, the United States has provided over $500 million in assistance through the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) to promote economic and social development in areas of Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland most affected by the conflict.  This assistance has supported a wide variety of youth, economic, and community development programs.  One hundred twenty-seven community organizations have completed the IFI-funded Community Leadership Program for training community groups and organizations.  Women of Northern Ireland have a particularly important role to play in promoting peace and developing local economies, and IFI funding also works to empower them.  This year the IFI’s Peace Impact Program provided young women in the greater Londonderry/Derry area of Northern Ireland training in employable skills and conflict resolution.

The U.S. Consulate in Belfast also implements an active outreach and engagement program.  Each year, a range of U.S. speakers disseminates best practices and exchanges ideas about civic engagement, urban regeneration, community cohesion, and marginalizing extremism.  A key component of the Consulate’s outreach, the Danesfort Dialogues, facilitates a series of constructive formal discussions among key civil society members on important local issues.  Through a series of small grants, the Consulate assists local organizations deliver positive change to their communities through sports diplomacy, youth entrepreneurship, and democratic engagement.  

Partnering for Economic Growth and Innovation

The United States is an important economic partner for Northern Ireland.  To promote economic opportunity, we support U.S. investment, and we have encouraged innovators and entrepreneurs as they translate their ideas into businesses.  Over the last 15 years, U.S. individuals and companies have invested over $2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Northern Ireland.  In the past six years alone, more than 50 U.S. investments worth more than $1 billion have created thousands of new jobs in Northern Ireland.  At the October 2013 Northern Ireland investment conference following the G-8 Summit in Lough Erne, 44 U.S. companies’ representatives travelled to Belfast to build the investment linkages needed to create jobs for Americans and the people of Northern Ireland.

Through the U.S.-Ireland Research and Development Partnership, we also engage in scientific research together, which drives economic development.  The partnership encourages collaboration among scientists from the United States, Ireland, and Northern Ireland in five priority areas:  health, sensor technology, nanotechnology, telecommunications, and energy and sustainability.  This project accelerates commercialization of innovations by fostering private sector coordination with the research teams.

The United States continues to increase investment linkages and partnerships that promote educational, professional, and entrepreneurial opportunities for Northern Ireland’s young people.  The State Department’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships Andrew O’Brien led a delegation of U.S. investors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, members of the Irish diaspora, and representatives from academia and civil society to Limerick, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland January 28-31.  The Belfast visit developed cross-sectoral partnership opportunities to boost science, technology, environment, and mathematics education, promote entrepreneurship, and promote economic growth.

Encouraging Northern Ireland’s Young Leaders

Hundreds of students and scholars from the United States and Northern Ireland have participated in the Fulbright Program.  U.S. scholars have benefitted from the Fulbright-Northern Ireland Governance and Public Policy Award and the Northern Ireland Assembly Award, and senior public sector employees from Northern Ireland have benefitted from the Fulbright Northern Ireland Public Sector Award.  In addition, hundreds of Northern Ireland civil society leaders, including legislators, artists, and activists, have participated in U.S. government-funded professional exchange programs.  Thanks to the goodwill of 140 U.S. academic institutions, which waived $40 million in tuition costs over the past 20 years, 1,800 Northern Ireland students have benefited from an academic year abroad in the United States.

This year, the U.S. Department of State awarded a $665,000 grant to the Irish Institute at Boston College for a professional exchange on the rule of law for some 20 governance professionals from Northern Ireland and Ireland and approximately eight U.S. participants.  Through individually tailored, four-week fellowships in advocacy organizations, legal think tanks, law firms, and court offices in the Boston area, followed by a week in Washington, D.C., fellows will have direct exposure to U.S. government policy-making and civil society advocacy.  Working with counterparts, the eight U.S. fellows will then spend two weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland to implement reciprocal projects.  The participants from Ireland and Northern Ireland will return to Washington, D.C., in June and again in November for a networking event for 200 exchange participants from more than 40 countries.

The Department of State’s “Collaboratory” brought educational technology specialists from Northern Ireland and Ireland on an exchange to the United States in January and will connect them virtually with disadvantaged youth throughout Ireland and peers from Africa.  They will collaborate on ideas to develop their ideal educational systems and help create their own futures, while extending their horizons with engagement with young people in Africa.

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON'S REMARKS AT THE IRELAND FUNDS LUNCH

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks to a Lunch Hosted by The Ireland Funds

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Titanic Belfast Building
Belfast, Northern Ireland
December 7, 2012
　

This is an absolute personal delight for me to have this opportunity to be here with so many people who I have known over so many years and who have made contributions large and small over those years to bring peace to this beautiful land. And I am very grateful to you, Karen, for putting this together and for everything you do at the Worldwide Ireland Funds. It is a great tribute to the Funds that you are exceeding your funding goals in this time of recession, because people are still so committed to doing what must be done to continue supporting the peacemakers and the decision makers here in Northern Ireland.

I could be here for a long time acknowledging people, which would be a terrible mistake on my part. But I do have to mention a few whom I see in the audience. I am honored to be joined by two men who are known for their commitment to peace and their willingness to work for it, John Hume and David Trimble. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you (inaudible).

And of course I’ve had already an excellent discussion with Peter and Martin and the more that I have the chance to be with them and work with them, the more impressed I am by their steady leadership and their very sensible, down-to-earth, practical approach to providing the peace and the peace dividend that the people of Northern Ireland so graciously deserve. They both said these incredibly nice things about me. They exceeded their quotient for eloquence by a long shot, but it means the world to me because I not only consider them colleagues, but friends. And so Peter and Martin, thank you. Thank you for what you do every day. (Applause.)

Minister Ford, Secretary Villiers, thank you as well for your contributions. And I was told that Doctor Paisley was here. (Applause.) Dr. Paisley, thank you so much for being here today. It’s just wonderful seeing you and I hope I’ll have a chance to personally greet you before I leave. I was also told Gerry Adams was here. Is Gerry here? Hi, Gerry. (Applause.) I also want to recognize Lou Susman, who has served so (inaudible) as our U.S. Ambassador. And also our Consul General, Greg, thank you for your services here. And I, too, will acknowledge and thank our former Economic Envoy Declan Kelly who has done so much to help bring more investors to the region, and I thank you for your contributions, Declan. (Applause.)

I’m sorry that Loretta cannot be here, but we send our best wishes to Loretta Brennan Glucksman and thank her for her chairmanship of the American-Ireland Fund. But it really is remarkable that for 35 years the Funds have promoted peace without taking sides, and they have been viewed as an important participant in the process of bringing people together. And I was delighted to hear that so many of the groups that I know continue to do such good work will be supported by them.

There are a number of my former interns who are here from the Ireland Funds, who I was privileged to host in my Senate office. They are extraordinary young people. I am very proud of them. And one of them I first – she first came to my attention in 1995 when she was 14 years old and she sent Bill and a deeply moving letter about the future she dreamed of for Northern Ireland. Then I knew her as a bright young intern when she came to work in my office and helping serve my constituents in New York, and apparently that experience really took because today we know her as the Lord Mayor of Armagh, Sharon Haughey. (Applause.) Sharon, why don’t you stand up? Where are you, Sharon? The next generation of leadership. There she is, way back there. Do you have your chain on – you got it? Good. (Laughter.) And I think she’s getting married later this month, so congratulations on that.

One person who is not here that I could not come to Northern Ireland and address any group without mentioning is Inez McCormack. Inez stands out amongst the extraordinary people I have met and worked with over the last 17 years. She inspired and motivated me, challenged me often, and we’re sending her our thoughts and our prayers and our best wishes as she fights a courageous battle against cancer. (Applause.)

Now, I think that we have all recognized and applauded already today the fact that the peace has proven remarkably durable, but I think it is only fair to say it is being tested, it will continue to be tested. Prison officer David Black, who was murdered last month, the police and citizens who have been assaulted, the elected officials threatened, including Naomi Long, who is here with us today – it has been a sad reminder, unfortunately, that despite how hardy the peace has been, there are still those who not only would test it but try to destroy it. And I really commend the leaders and citizens from the many groups who have condemned this violence, and of course, I join them in condemning it as well.

It’s very clear that the voices of the responsible leadership are needed more than ever to remind us all that peace comes through dialogue and debate, not violence, and we have to be strong in the face of provocation and testing that will continue. Democracy is a challenging form of self-government, but it is the best that has ever been invented by any human being, and therefore we have a lot to be both proud of and very careful to continue nurturing. And for me, it is a reminder as well that we have to continue to make sure that the promise of peace is delivered. Because the progress in a democracy can never be taken for granted, even progress so hard-won as here.

I remember very well when Bill and I came 17 years ago this month. He was the first American president ever to set foot in Northern Ireland. We stood behind a bulletproof screen to turn on Belfast’s Christmas lights in front of a vast crowd that stretched so far I could not even find the end of it in any direction. And it was a moment of such hope. And it has been that image that has kept me going through any challenges that have come across my mind when I think about what lies ahead. I said this morning in Stormont that a little girl, Catherine, who was there that night, said that her Christmas wish was that peace and love would last in Ireland forever. That is an appropriate Christmas wish for this season as well.

I also remember that there were still roadblocks, not just because the President of the United States was visiting. There were still searches for explosives as one walked into department stores. Those roadblocks are gone and the searches have ended. Many of us did a double-take when, this summer, Queen Elizabeth came for a visit and joined Martin McGuinness in that historic handshake. More and more foreign students are coming here to study at Queen’s and Ulster universities. So there still is such a sense of hope. But we know that we’re suffering in a terrible economic downturn, and I think it’s important to recognize that there has to be an economic return on peace, especially for democracies that have to deliver results for people.

And although the real credit of the progress that has been made belong to the people of Northern Ireland, those of us who have tried to help along the way, like George Mitchell or my husband and so many others, will continue to walk with you as you practice and tend to this peace. It is always a work in progress, and we have to do more to get out of the ballrooms, out of Stormont, into the communities where people live, where there yet is not that sense of lasting hope and optimism.

Now, I’ve been especially privileged to work with some of the community activists, and particularly a lot of the women, who are here with me today. I remember the late Joyce McCartan, who called herself a family feminist. I love that term, and in fact, adopted it. But what she understood was that peace had to affect families. Families had to believe that life would be better for themselves and their children. I remember meeting with Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar at the White House when I was First Lady, and they wanted to talk about how to grow businesses, how to convince people – especially women – to participate in the economy and the politics that was being created. So yes, we did use Vital Voices as a mechanism for bringing not only women together, but having them then reach out to others in a great chain of potential.

So there’s a lot that we can be proud of, but I want to just offer a cautionary word. Because if we do not focus on the community level – and as David Trimble said to me earlier today, on that interface – we will not have really achieved the peace that has been worked for. So I’m looking for new ideas about how to help you do just that. How can we better make an impact on those who are either indifferent or negative toward what has been achieved? How do we reach the hard-to-reach communities – the young man from a loyalist community whose father couldn’t find work and who sees his own chances for a good job slipping away, the young woman from a Republican family who’s had to give up the idea of going to university? We can be more creative and thoughtful about how we support the political leadership of Peter and Martin and other elected leaders by trying to help them from the ground up.

So my offer to you is, as I leave this current position and become a private citizen again, I want to continue working with you. I want to support you in what you are doing. And I hope that we’ll have a chance to really come to grips with some of the serious remaining problems that are still plaguing the fulfillment of our aspirations for the people of Northern Ireland. Of course I look forward to coming back and having some time just to relax and spend a few hours talking with friends and thinking about things besides public life. But I’m very serious about this offer and very serious to the Ireland Funds that I want to remain involved as a friend, an advocate, and a cheerleader for what you have already achieved.

And so as we approach another Christmas season with all that it represents – a season of hope and good tidings – let’s reach out to those who don’t yet feel that in their heart about what has been achieved by the hard work and sacrifice of so many here and so many who have come forth. And know that the greatest gift we can give to any of our fellow man or woman is the gift of peace and of love, and that’s what I want to see for the future for every child, boy and girl, here in Northern Ireland.

Thank you, and God bless you. (Applause.)