Ireland and the United States have an extraordinarily close relationship which has been greatly strengthened by President Clinton's involvement with the Northern Ireland peace process. This was palpably reinforced by the President's presence yesterday in Belfast and Omagh. His involvement and commitment, as spelled out in his address at the Waterfront Hall, seem certain to copper-fasten the Irish-American relationship, giving it an importance that can be expected to last well into the next century and making this country the envy of many other larger ones for the access it enjoys in the US.
Ireland is often characterised as sitting on the most western periphery of Europe, suffering an inherent geographical disadvantage compared to many continental members of an enlarging European Union. But seen in the wider transatlantic setting, Ireland is far from peripheral, but potentially central to the newly developing relationship between North America and Europe. This can clearly be seen politically during Mr Clinton's second visit; it is daily manifest in the activities of US firms here, in the development of relations with the diaspora and is a notable feature of Ireland's cultural life.
In many ways Irish people are only beginning to realise the significance of these facts. They work both ways, however, and should not be taken for granted. Ireland makes its own distinctive contribution to the relationship with the US in all these spheres. It is not, and should not be, a passive consumer of US policies. It has different interests from the US in crucial areas of foreign policy and economic life, which often coincide with wider differences between the US and the EU. And, by virtue of the distinctively inclusive and multilateral nature of the Northern Ireland peace process, Irish people have gained an insight into conflict resolution in other parts of the world.
This is the context within which Irish criticisms of the recent US bombardment of supposed Islamic fundamentalist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan should be judged. There is a well-founded belief that they will do more harm than good politically and diplomatically, that they set a bad example of unilateral action, reciprocating the methods used by those who bombed the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, and that they form part of an ill-advised exclusionary approach to Islamic fundamentalism, failing at the same time to take account of the diversity of that phenomenon. It is a pity the Government has not seen fit to voice such reservations in advance of Mr Clinton's visit.
There is no sign that Mr Clinton's difficulties over the Lewinski affair have affected his capacity to act constructively and imaginatively in the Northern Ireland peace process. Most Irish people would share the general view in Europe that the affair has been abused by his opponents and blown out of proportion. Mr Clinton will naturally hope to gain domestic political kudos from his Irish policy, which stands out as one of his most successful foreign policy involvements. For that, he deserves the thanks and appreciation of the Irish people. We are the fortunate recipients of that disposition, never found before in the same degree in any American president.