October 23, 2001

"Mr. President: Today the last obstacle to the full implementation of the Good Friday Accords has been removed with the announcement by the IRA that it has begun to permanently put beyond use its weapons. I believe that General de Chastelain, on behalf of the International Commission on Decommissioning, will shortly confirm that this has in fact been done. For those of us who have been involved in the Irish peace process for more than eight years now -- this is a very significant moment. It means that the sectarian differences which have torn Northern Ireland apart for nearly thirty years, and shed the blood of too many Irish men, women and children can now be addressed through dialog and compromise rather than by bullets and bombs.

"In many ways the issue of decommissioning has been an unfortunate distraction that has delayed the implementation of key provisions of the 1998 Good Friday Accords -- provisions that were specifically designed to address the problems that have plagued the six counties of the North for decades. Now Northern Ireland's political leadership should no longer be paralyzed by this side issue. Finally they can begin to deal with injustice and inequality -- the real causes of the Troubles, as those who signed the Peace Accords committed themselves to do within the context of that agreement.

"There is no mystery as to what needs to be done -- the issues of police reform, domestic security, human rights and equal opportunity for all the citizens of Northern Ireland must be tackled in good faith. It has taken a great deal of courage on the part of Ireland's political leaders to bring us to where we are today. Many have done so at great personal risk to themselves. They have been willing to do so because they are mindful of the historical significance of their actions.

"I want to commend Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein for their tireless efforts to convince the IRA to trust in the political process as the only way to remedy past grievances. I commend as well David Trimble -- Ulster Unionist Leader -- for his courage in standing up to those elements of unionism who will not or cannot accept that all the peoples of the North are equal in the eyes of God and man.

"I cannot fail to mention the role that British and Irish political leaders Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern played in this drama -- they stuck with the peace process even when it seemed as though it seemed at times that the obstacles were insurmountable. I believe that President Bush also should be commended for continuing President Clinton's policy of prodding all the parties to move forward to implement the Good Friday Accords so that Irish weapons will be silenced once and for all.

"But most of all I want to heap praise on the individual who had the vision and determination to work for the last thirty years so that this day would happen, I am speaking of John Hume, among the greatest civil rights activists of his generation. Just as the signing of the 1998 Peace Accords created new opportunities for the people of Northern Ireland to find peace, so too does today's announcement by the IRA.

"But let me stress that it is just that, an opportunity, which can be made the most of or squandered. It can be approached with generosity and reciprocity or it can be denigrated as insufficient. The people of Northern Ireland have suffered for too long. They are desperate to live in peace -- desperate for a better life for themselves and for their children. I hope and pray that the political leaders of Northern Ireland will find that spirit of generosity as well as the vision and courage that the people of Northern Ireland expect from them and move forward to fully implement the Good Friday Accords. If that comes to pass, then we will be able to look back on this day -- a day otherwise clouded by threats of terrorism - and recognize that there was a silver lining to that cloud -- the Irish model for resolving civil conflict by peaceful means: a model that all the world will be able to turn to in resolving future conflicts."