It is a “miracle” that the Good Friday Agreement “survived” the Brexit process that “set Northern Ireland back”, the Clintons have said.
Former US President Bill Clinton and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to RTÉ’s Prime Time to discuss the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
The couple played an instrumental role in the signing of the agreement that was agreed in 1998.
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Speaking ahead of the official anniversary on Monday, Mr Clinton praised the fact that the “Irish peace held” during the fraught Brexit negotiations.
He said: “The idea that it [the Good Friday Agreement] weathered Brexit is a miracle.
“Brexit was aimed right at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, even if not intentionally, but it happened. So that’s the way it was.
“But the peace held, the Irish peace held.”
Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, suggested that the tough negotiations throughout the Brexit process did damage the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland.
She explained: “It's disappointing in that one always hopes that a peace agreement will be followed, not only in the letter of the agreement but in the spirit of it.
“I do think Northern Ireland is a very different place than it was 25 years ago, it's just that Brexit set it back, to be blunt, creating a very difficult situation for Northern Ireland in the midst of separating from the European Union.
“That looks like it's on the way to being resolved, and hopefully it will be.
“Then the next step will be to stand up a government.”
Mr and Mrs Clinton spoke to Miriam O’Callaghan for Prime Time in New York and stressed the importance of the Northern Irish institutions being stood back up.
There has been no Government in Northern Ireland for nearly a year following elections last May.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ruled out going into Government with Sinn Féin until the European Union and the UK renegotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Following the signing of the Windsor Framework in February, Mr Clinton encouraged Unionists to engage.
He continued: “I think we should say, ‘look there’s something to work with here’.
“The party that’s getting the most votes now [Sinn Féin] doesn’t want to jam you, they want to work with you to resolve these things.
“How can we live together? How can we work together? How can we all put our heads on the pillow at night and feel at peace about what our children are going to face.”
Mr Clinton later recalled the late-night phone calls that took place on Holy Thursday in 1998 just hours before the Good Friday Agreement was signed off on.
He said that he slept for two in between phone calls with US Senator George Mitchell, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.
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