Clinton Fences With Hecklers in N. Ireland

Former President Clinton, rallying several thousand supporters and jousting with hecklers, urged the people of Northern Ireland on Wednesday to bolster the province’s peace pact he helped forge.

“I know that not every provision of the Good Friday agreement has been implemented. People on both sides have concerns, fears and frustration,” Clinton told an open-air rally where about 3,000 people greeted him as a returning hero for his efforts to stabilize the volatile British-ruled province.

Clinton made a triumphant trip to Londonderry in 1995 to shore up the then-faltering peace process. Back in the city Wednesday at the start of a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, he urged communities to not turn their backs on the accord.

“Rededicate yourself to the path of peace. Stay with the agreement you have voted for. Celebrate the best possible future for all the children of this island,” he said.

Clinton, on a European tour, arrived with his daughter, Chelsea, and sat beside Catholic politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume.

Most of the crowd was supportive, but about 50 protesters kept up a stream of abuse on non-Northern Ireland issues.

Clinton, departing from his speech, zeroed in on protesters who criticized U.S. policy on Iraq and took on the hecklers.

It is a sign of a healthy democracy that “people have a right to be wrong, and loudly wrong,” he said.

“Nobody demonstrates against me anymore. This is fun. You guys better be careful. I might think I was still president.”