“On this anniversary, the people of Northern Ireland and all their friends around the world have much to celebrate. I hope this moment of shared memory will allow them to continue the work of peace and inspire others to believe, as Heaney wrote, in “miracles / And cures and healing wells” and find their own way forward.”
—President Bill Clinton
Marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
In April, President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement — to look back at the long road to peace, to reflect on where we are today, and to call for the rededication to the work of reconciliation that remains.
In 1995, on his first trip to Northern Ireland, President Bill Clinton closed his speech to the people of Londonderry with the words of poet Seamus Heaney.
The next day, the Nobel Prize-winner presented President Clinton with this inscription of his poem, A Chorus.
The letter, which hangs in his home, is one of his most treasured possessions.
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On This Day: April 10, 1998
Throughout his administration, President Clinton was deeply involved in the peace-making process in Northern Ireland. On April 10, 1998, after several years, the Good Friday Agreement was signed with overwhelming public support, ending the conflict in Northern Ireland and establishing a Northern Ireland Assembly.
