Kerry vows to work for peace in North
As Democrats gathered in Boston to confirm the Massachusetts Senator and his running mate John Edwards on Thursday as their candidates for this November’s election, the party pledged its support for efforts to restore devolution at Stormont and implement the Good Friday Agreement.
This time the Democrats’ platform on Northern Ireland steers clear of the criticism Mr Kerry made of US President George W Bush’s handling of the peace process during the race for the party’s nomination.
It reads: “We are determined to help create a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. We support efforts by the Irish and British Governments and the political parties to break the current impasse and we stand ready to assist in any way to achieve full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.”
During the Democratic primaries, Mr Kerry attacked Mr Bush’s administration for failing to build on Bill Clinton’s achievements in Northern Ireland.
He had then pledged to Irish American groups: “John Kerry will put the Northern Ireland peace process high on America’s foreign policy agenda.
“He will continue to follow the path set by Senator [Edward] Kennedy, President Clinton and Senator [George] Mitchell.
“John Kerry believes that President Bush has failed to recognise the importance of building on the work of President Clinton in facilitating the peace process.
“President Bush’s lack of urgency in naming a new Ambassador to Ireland and the absence of Presidential involvement in efforts to further the peace process are clear evidence that Ireland is not a high priority for the Bush administration.”
Mr Kerry also called on the IRA and loyalist terror groups to fully disarm and end all paramilitary activity and hoped all sides would soon be in a position to support policing in Northern Ireland.
However, he angered the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists by criticising them for “refusing to form a government with Sinn Féin”.
With British Prime Minster Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern planning a new set of talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland in mid September, the leadership of the nationalist SDLP flew to Boston to lobby Democrats this week for continued backing.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: “Our message is simple. There is no reason why we cannot make a breakthrough in the peace process if, above all, Sinn Féin and the DUP want to.
“To get the Agreement up and running again, paramilitaries - loyalist and republican - need to end all their activity.
“Without this, the reality is that there is no hope of reviving the devolved institutions. Ten years on from the ceasefires and six years on from the Agreement, all this activity should have ended long ago.
“We will be left with a poisonous mafia culture if it doesn’t end now.
“In return, unionist politicians must accept the Agreement. The DUP needs to recognise that their proposals to replace it are totally unworkable.”
