Hillary’s Irish Legacy

The campaign just put together this wonderful video of Hillary talking about her experiences in Northern Ireland, and a bit of her recent visit with Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Ian Paisley and Deputy Minister Martin McGuinness. Given all of the BS out there by people claiming she didn’t contribute anything to the process, I thought it was important to get this out there. Take a look…



I know there’s probably not much to add after linfar's amazing diary at MyDD last night, last night, but I got a great email a few weeks ago from a woman who worked closely with Hillary during the time of the peace process in the mid-90’s, and I thought this might be a good time to share it.

Hillary’s former Chief of Staff and now Chair of a non-profit group called Vital Voices Melanne Verveer, sent me something she wrote up about Hillary’s role in this peace process, as a part of the tribute being pulled together by Stella O’Leary. Ms. Verveer worked with Hillary for 8 years and I doubt anyone has a deeper understanding of Hillary’s role or her motivations for getting so involved in all this. Nineteen ninety-five was a big year for Hillary, with trips to Beijing for the UN Women’s Conference, and her first trip to Northern Ireland. Take a look…

HILLARY AND THE VITAL VOICES OF NORTHERN IRELAND

Hillary accompanied President Clinton during his historic first trip to Northern Ireland in 1995. In preparing for the visit to Belfast, Hillary told me that she wanted to meet with some of Northern Ireland’s remarkable women peacemakers. During her travels around the globe, Hillary always spent time with the women leaders who were changing their societies for the better. Now she would have to the opportunity to do so in Northern Ireland.

I don’t think Hillary will ever forget her first visit to Northern Ireland, and neither will I. It was on that trip that Hillary went to a very simple restaurant called “Ye Olde Lamplighter” on Lower Ormeau Road. There she sat around some small tables that were pulled together and talked with Joyce McCarten and her working-class neighbors --- Protestant and Catholic alike. Many of the women had lost husbands, sons or brothers to senseless killings during the Troubles. But, over a cup of tea, they told the Fist Lady of the United States that while they attended different churches on Sunday, seven days a week they all prayed to the same God for the safe return of a child from school or a husband from an errand in town.

Their families struggled with the same deep-rooted causes of the violence – the burdens of poverty, the shackles of limited education, the despair of unemployment. And although the women held different views of the past events, they had learned that together they could make a difference for a better future. Joyce and her colleagues came together as women have always done: to speak out on behalf of the children.

Some called Joyce a “troublemaker,” but she had a better name for herself, “family feminist.” Her goal was simply to lift up the hopes and everyday lives of families like hers in Northern Ireland.

Hillary often talked about Joyce’s powerful lessons and never more emotionally then when she returned to Belfast in 1997 to deliver a lecture in Joyce’s memory at the University of Ulster. Hillary returned with the teapot Joyce had given her in 1995. Hillary held it on the lectern and talked with deep feeling about the important role that Joyce and so many others like her had played in transcending the conflict. In the audience were many women who were carrying on Joyce’s legacy of peacemaking.

It was on this return visit to Belfast in 1996 that Hillary met Mo Mowlum, the British Secretary of State whom Tony Blair had sent to Belfast to negotiate with both sides to bring an end to the bloody conflict. Hillary and the indomitable Mo forged a bond through the ups and downs of the peace process and supported the efforts of the women in advancing the peace.

On St. Patrick’s Day in 1998, the political leaders of Northern Ireland were invited to the White House. The peace negotiations that led to the Good Friday Accord were going on at the time and President Clinton was doing his best to encourage the leaders to continue their efforts. The only leaders who did not have a meeting in the Oval Office were the two representatives of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition who were also elected to participate in the peace talks. Realizing their omission, an official on the National Security Council called me to see if it might be possible for the First Lady to meet briefly with the two Northern Irish women leaders, Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sager.

Hillary agreed and the meeting was anything but brief. Monica and Pearl told the First Lady how important it was for women in Northern Ireland to be able to participate fully in the social, economic and political life of their society, and they also told her how difficult it was, how the women were ridiculed, marginalized and even threatened. They pleaded for help in skills development, leadership training and employment opportunities. That was the birth of Vital Voices Northern Ireland. Minutes after the conclusion of the meeting, Hillary called me and said, “We really need to bring Vital Voices to Northern Ireland. Do you think we can organize a conference in six months that would help to build the confidence of the women, bring in experts and programs to develop their skills and provide new opportunities? We really need to help raise the voices of the women because they are critical to build a peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland.” Vital Voices became one of the US commitments to the peace process.

That night at the gala St Patrick’s Day party in the East Room, Hillary introduced her husband and paid tribute to the women of Northern Ireland who are the unsung heroes. Her remarks were greeted with thunderous applause.

True to her word, Hillary was back in Belfast six months later to keynote the Vital Voices conference. Hundreds of women gathered at Waterfront Hall, as did First Minister of the Assembly David Trimble and the Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon. Hillary also saluted her friend Mo who had done so much to make the conference possible, despite several roadblocks along the way. Hillary noted that it was “the smart thing for women to clear the path of reconciliation which brought us to this day. And it is the smart thing for women to play a central role in the reconstruction that will usher in a Northern Ireland that fulfills the promise of democracy, prosperity and peace for all its citizens….the Peace Agreement was the beginning, not the end.” She asked, “How will each of us work to fulfill the promise of peace?” She added, “Let us pledge to each other that this is only the beginning and that, as the Peace Agreement is implemented, the voices that have been raised here will never fade away.”

Hillary returned again to Northern Ireland the following year to hear about the progress of the Vital Voices initiative. One by one women told her how the initiative was opening new opportunities in the economy -- for partnerships in small business development and in creating cross border collaborations; how women were raising their voices in political system once reserved only for men and developing new strategies to sustain community- based women’s groups.

In 2000, on her last visit as First Lady and her first as Senator-elect, Hillary hailed the women of Northern Ireland who were “setting an example of how women can foster peace and prosperity in this new century,” and she proudly told the audience that everywhere she went around the world, she talked about the daily acts of courage taken through the years by the women of Northern Ireland –“whose whispers of ‘enough’ became a torrent of voices that brought us to this day.”

As Senator, Hillary made few trips overseas, but she did travel to Northern Ireland and made a point of visiting with the women leaders who had been such an inspiration to her and the world – women like: Inez McCormack, Avila Kilmurray, Mary Breslin, Monica McWilliams and so many others. She continues to hear about the strides that are being made politically, socially and economically in Northern Ireland.. Today through the Vital Voices Global Partnership, the work that Hillary started continues. And the women of Northern Ireland are sharing experiences on peace building and community development with their sisters in the Middle East.

Hillary responded when the women of Northern Ireland sought her assistance. Time and again, she brought them encouragement and support. I know she will never forget them. I also know that they will always cherish her as their dear friend Hillary.

Melanne Verveer
Co-founder and Chairman of Vital Voices Global Partnership
Former Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton.