Bush Urges ‘Momentum’ on N. Ireland Resolution

President Bush urged politicians trying to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict to “keep up forward momentum” to ensure abiding peace comes to the British province. “The United States stands ready to help,” he said Friday.

Bush, wearing a little green pin on his suit lapel, honored a St. Patrick’s Day tradition by accepting a crystal bowl of shamrocks from Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. They were joined by First Lady Laura Bush, wearing an emerald green blazer.

Bush and Ahern met for an hour to discuss trade and implementation of the 1998 Good Friday accord, a power-sharing arrangement in Northern Ireland meant to end decades of sectarian violence.

“It is clear that all sides want the Good Friday agreement to succeed,” Bush said. “It is also clear that all sides are seeking to overcome some very difficult internal obstacles and to keep up forward momentum.

“We deeply appreciate the efforts,” Bush continued. “It is in our national interest that there be a lasting peace, a real lasting peace, in Northern Ireland.”

Ahern said he was glad to hear Bush’s statement of support, saying encouragement from the United States can prove vital. “It is good to be able to count on true friends,” Ahern said.

Afterward, Ahern told reporters he hopes to gear U.S.-Irish relations more toward building trade, noting that the United States is on track to become Ireland’s largest trading partner. He said he also wants to “share experiences and work closely with the president” on the U.N. Security Council.

“We think there are many issues beyond Northern Ireland that we can work on, and we look forward to doing that,” Ahern said.

After the meeting, Bush was host at a reception for Irish American leaders in the White House East Room, greeting VIPs from Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland beforehand in the Blue Room nearby.

The visitors included John Reid, Britain’s minister responsible for the province; John Hume, leader of the political party that represents moderate Roman Catholic opinion; Gerry Adams, head of the Irish Republican Army-affiliated Sinn Fein party; David Trimble, senior Protestant in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government; Seamus Mallon, Hume’s party deputy and the senior Catholic in the government; and Ian Paisley, whose party, the Democratic Unionists, has refused to participate in peace talks attended by Sinn Fein.

Paisley, included in a White House visit for the first time, did not go to the East Room with the others, Ahern said. Still, “I’m delighted he was here,” Ahern said.

The Good Friday accord proposed a joint Catholic-Protestant government for Northern Ireland. It is in jeopardy, largely because the mainly Catholic IRA is reluctant to carry out its pledge to disarm.