On Thursday November 30 1995, Bill Clinton became the first President of the United States to visit Northern Ireland. A sea of thousands of people turned up at Belfast’s City Hall that day to hear Clinton’s emotional call for peace.
During his presidency, Clinton played an integral part in Northern Ireland’s peace process and in turning the tide towards an agreement between Northern Ireland’s political parties. Indeed, when the Good Friday Agreement was reached on April 10 1998, it was later revealed that Clinton had spoken to party leaders during the course of the previous evening to encourage them to reach the agreement.
Now, more than a decade after the Good Friday Agreement, the former President takes time out of his wife’s presidential campaign to talk about his unique relationship with Northern Ireland in an in-depth interview with Stephen Nolan.
Clinton speaks openly to Stephen about why he cared so much about Northern Ireland and the criticisms he received for his involvement; his thoughts on Ian Paisley and on granting Gerry Adams a visa; getting out of bed to engage in telephone conversations with party leaders at the deadline for the Good Friday Agreement; his thoughts on Northern Ireland’s future; and singing along to Phil Coulter’s The Town I Love So Well.
Speaking about his involvement in moving Northern Ireland towards peace, Clinton tells Nolan: “I’ve always been a person when I see something there that needs doing I believe I ought to try to do it and it was self-evident to me that this was a place where the United States might be trusted enough by both sides and might have enough Irish connections to both communities to make a positive difference.
I think that even when one side or the other disagreed with some position I took, they know that I wished them well, that I was pulling for them. And I really thought it was the right thing for them. It was the only thing that made sense.”
The programme also features archive footage of Clinton’s visit to Northern Ireland and interviews with some of the local people who met him, including musician Phil Coulter.
The Nolan Interview: Bill Clinton is a Below The Radar Production for BBC Northern Ireland.