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10/04/2018
NI Risks 'Languishing In Purgatory Or Returning To Hell' - Clinton
Former US President Bill Clinton has used his keynote speech at University College Dublin (UCD) to warn against the risk of Northern Ireland "languishing in purgatory or returning to hell".
Mr Clinton was in Dublin, ahead of an appearance in Belfast, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
During his speech, President Clinton urged Northern Ireland's political parties to resolve their differences "to avoid undermining the work of the Good Friday Agreement and democracy being eroded".
The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed in January 2017 amid a dispute between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
President Clinton said that his "first plea is this thing has lasted, don't let it go".
He said that one of three things is going to happen in the Northern Ireland: "The whole thing will fall apart and you will go back into the hell that now people have forgotten from the Troubles.
"Or, two, you can stay in purgatory, where you got denied dreams and broken hopes and you'll just rock along, caught on a sea of lost chances.
"If you do that, slowly you will begin to lose a democracy in the North.
"Or three, everybody can rear back, settle down and make a new beginning."
President Clinton warned that it is "so easy to underestimate the fragility of the situation you have come to take for granted…", and said that the key to moving forward was compromise.
President Clinton is due to visit Belfast today, 10 April, where he will receive the freedom of the city, alongside former US Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the Good Friday Agreement talks.
(MH/LM)
Mr Clinton was in Dublin, ahead of an appearance in Belfast, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
During his speech, President Clinton urged Northern Ireland's political parties to resolve their differences "to avoid undermining the work of the Good Friday Agreement and democracy being eroded".
The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed in January 2017 amid a dispute between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
President Clinton said that his "first plea is this thing has lasted, don't let it go".
He said that one of three things is going to happen in the Northern Ireland: "The whole thing will fall apart and you will go back into the hell that now people have forgotten from the Troubles.
"Or, two, you can stay in purgatory, where you got denied dreams and broken hopes and you'll just rock along, caught on a sea of lost chances.
"If you do that, slowly you will begin to lose a democracy in the North.
"Or three, everybody can rear back, settle down and make a new beginning."
President Clinton warned that it is "so easy to underestimate the fragility of the situation you have come to take for granted…", and said that the key to moving forward was compromise.
President Clinton is due to visit Belfast today, 10 April, where he will receive the freedom of the city, alongside former US Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the Good Friday Agreement talks.
(MH/LM)
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Northern Ireland WeatherThis Evening and Tonight:A dry evening with late sunny spells and some long clear spells overnight. Becoming cloudier across the north towards dawn with a few showers possible. Touch of frost in south. Minimum temperature 0 °C.
