Clintons visit Enniskillen peace centre

US Senator Hillary Clinton and her husband, former US president Bill Clinton, will visit a peace centre in the North named after him today.

Hillary Clinton mounted a strong defence of the Good Friday Agreement during a speech at the University of Ulster last night.

The former First Lady told her audience that the North had come too far to revert to old ways and both nationalists and unionists should instead look to the future. She said the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement were “the guiding principles that can lead Northern Ireland to true democracy”.

Senator Clinton was speaking after being made an Honorary Doctor of Law at the university.

The Clintons are travelling to Enniskillen where 11 people were killed by an IRA bomb on Remembrance Day in 1987.

Mr Clinton is returning to the centre on the second day of a two-day visit to the North.

The Clintons spent yesterday meeting the North’s politicians in a bid to urge them to restore devolution at Stormont.

In her speech at the University of Ulster’s Magee College campus in Derry, Senator Clinton urged unionists and nationalists to make real progress in next month’s talks involving British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Leeds Castle, Maidstone.

The New York senator, who was delivering a lecture in memory of legendary Irish American congressman Tip O’Neill, said: “We are in a new and difficult world. It requires unity of purpose and commitment to stand with the fundamental principles that underlie the Good Friday Agreement.”

Mr Clinton, who brought Belfast city centre to a standstill during a visit to a bookstore to sign copies of his memoirs, also claimed the politicians had to complete the process of implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

The former president insisted: “The ball is in their court.”

He rejected claims that the Good Friday Agreement was dead and he described himself as a cheerleader for peace.

President Clinton’s return to Enniskillen also marked a return to the county of his forbears, Co Fermanagh.

With the county’s football team on the cusp of a possible appearance in an All Ireland championship final, there was speculation that the Clintons would be presented with the team’s colours in the hope that some of their success would rub off on the squad.