LONDON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in Dublin Tuesday for his third and final visit to Ireland amid growing pressure for him to inject new impetus to break the deadlock in the peace process.
Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson suggested that Clinton's arrival could provide the dynamic needed, saying that he expected the president to remind people "how much we have achieved, of what we stand to lose if we slip back." "I expect him to stress the need for people to work together to complete the implementation of the Good Friday agreement.
This week is a chance for all of us to rededicate ourselves to that work, to think about the progress that has been made," he said.
But local politicians in Northern Ireland were less optimistic about the chances of Clinton finding a formula to break the deadlock over paramilitary arms, police reforms and a ban on Sinn Fein imposed by pro-British Unionists.
Clinton was met at Dublin Airport by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. He was also due to meet Irish President Mary McAleese and make an open-air address at Dundalk, near the Northern Ireland border, before travelling to Belfast Wednesday and then on to London.
According to UK press reports Tuesday, the U.S. president is keen to continue a role in Northern Ireland, which is classed as one of his few foreign policy successes, and become the guardian of the peace process.
(IRNA)