Michael Keane writes on the historic White House Conference on Ireland held in Washington, D.C., May 23-25.
In years to come historians will look back on the conflict in Northern Ireland and its resolution and will rightly judge that the Government of the United States, under President Bill Clinton, played a crucial role.
They will also point to a conference in Washington D.C. in May of 1995 as being another vital step on the road to a lasting peace on the island of Ireland. The President’s Investment Conference on Northern Ireland and the Border Counties was an extraordinary occasion by any standards, but when it is put in the context of 25 years of bloodshed and tears in Ireland it is truly amazing that it took place at all.
The ceasefire called last Fall by the Irish Republican Army, followed by the cessation of violence by the loyalist paramilitaries, transformed everything, of course.
The streets of Northern Ireland are happy places once again, with smiling faces and laughter in the air. It is, however, the absence of haunted looks which are a joy to behold.
There is still one big question in the back of everyone’s mind. Will the peace last? The Washington Conference helped assure many people that the answer is yes, the peace is holding fast. Put simply the message from the Republicans and Loyalists who traveled to Washington was loud and clear — the war is over.
That message was delivered to Irish as well as British Government ministers and to leading figures in the Clinton administration. It was not formally declared. There were no rousing speeches from the Gerry Adamses or the David Irvines.
No, the message was delivered in the lobbies of the Washington Sheraton Hotel, in the reception rooms where an amazing array of people raised a glass together, in the sing-songs which inevitably occur when the Irish gather, and in the White House in the midst of a thunderstorm.
The formal speeches were important, of course. The fact that President Clinton, Secretary Christopher, Secretary Brown, Senator Mitchell and Under Secretary Meissner were on hand to pledge the administration’s continued support to the peace process and to getting investment into Ireland was a clear signal that this was not a conference for the optics.
But the real business was done away from the plenary sessions, full of emotion and commitment as they were.
The President’s speech at the event in the tent may have been partially drowned out by the thunder and the failing PA system, but the message was still clear as a Kerry mountain stream — the Irish story is a success story.
The Washington Conference was a success on a number of levels but primarily on the level of breaking down barriers which few could have hoped to see crumble before their very eyes.
On the evening before the Conference had even begun the American Ireland Fund held a reception and it was here that the first signs of what was to come were evident. Republicans and Loyalists who, a few short months ago, would have been reaching for their firearms on first sight, were mixing together socially. No, they weren’t pouring Buds for each other but neither were they firing lead in each other’s direction.
The following day, at an SDLP fundraiser, Congressman Peter King told how he had met a Loyalist paramilitary turned politician at the Ireland Fund reception who had confessed twice that some years ago he had been on the hit team which had tried to assassinate Adams.
During the conference, Sinn Féin hosted a hospitality suite (or a hostility suite as one cynical wag put it) which was indeed visited by the Loyalist politicians. Their only complaint was that there were no crusts on the sandwiches.
“Look, don’t think because we are all mixing here in Washington that we are about to embrace a United Ireland,” one Loyalist confided to me. “We haven’t changed our views but we know that the old days of saying no to everything have ended.”
Another great achievement of the Washington Conference was that it reinforced the even-handed approach of the U.S. Government. From previous visits and from the utterances of some of the top people in the White House and on Capitol Hill the Loyalists now fully accept that the Administration is committed to jobs, Catholic and Protestant, as a means of breaking the real connection between unemployment and violence.
The conference was a success on the business level also. Disappointment was expressed that some of the top companies admitted they were under pressure to be there and others were absent but it was not the type of conference where major multi-nationals were expected to announce significant expansion of existing plants in Ireland or the opening of new ones.
It was at the lower level where the business connections were made. At the food “break-out” session, for example, a lady stood up and announced she wanted a partner in Europe for her cookie manufacturing firm. “Is there anyone here who wants to do business with me?” she asked.
That evening she was seen in a corner at yet another reception busily talking to one of seven business people who passed her their card within seconds of her question. The next day she told me she was sure she was on the way to doing a deal.
A local councilor from Omagh told of how he introduced himself to a man standing beside him in the White House tent. They quickly discovered that he was seeking a partner for his electronic company. The councilor had a small businessman with him from Omagh who was a perfect match in terms of the products he produced. Wedding bells are awaited.
Small stuff? Not for the towns and villages of Northern Ireland and the Border Counties because if those examples are multiplied hundreds of jobs will be created.
Both Senator George Mitchell and Under Secretary Chuck Meissner emphasized to a media briefing that this work would be followed up. Each U.S. company would be contacted and any interest in investment in Ireland pursued vigorously. Even the skeptical British media seemed impressed.
Nobody is under any illusion about how many difficult days there are ahead and there are huge problems to be surmounted. But we are on the road to a lasting peace and the Washington Conference called by President Bill Clinton in May 1995 will be a distinctive signpost along the way.
Michael Keane attended the Washington Conference as Editor of the Sunday Press and representing Irish Press Newspapers. He was Northern Ireland Editor of the Group for five years in the 1970s.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the July/August 1995 issue of Irish America. ♦
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