Holding out for hope: Clinton's Irish policy.

An unusually quiet Saint Patrick's week in the United States allowed the fragile Irish peace talks to gain ground on American soil. Receiving the Irish-American of the Year Award in New York on March 11, President Bill Clinton described his December trip to Ireland as "the best days of my life." The enthusiastic receptions by friendly crowds in Dublin and Belfast seem to inspire a heartfelt eloquence in the president.

The February 9 bombing in London that ended the IRA cease-fire was expected to dampen annual Saint Patrick's Day festivities. But the president found the right words to turn despair into determination. "We all know," he said, "that we come tonight in a celebration that is not as unambiguous as we might have hoped .... Tonight, in the land of our ancestors, the future once again is at a crossroads. And, once again, each of us must do our part to safeguard the promise, the precious promise of peace."

Clinton has already done more than any U.S. president to focus the power of his office on finding a solution for "the troubles." The first sitting chief executive ever to visit Northern Ireland, his interests seem to transcend any domestic political advantage. He said that his concern about "the troubles" began in his days as a student in England. "As an American acutely aware of his Irish roots, I was deeply interested in it and troubled by it."

In the intervening years he had not attended to the conflict. Perhaps he, like so many Americans, found the multitude of parties confusing and the periodic eruption of violence inexplicable. Clinton said that he began seriously to confront Ireland's ancient quarrel three years ago. The political analysis and philosophy of John Hume, whom he calls, "my friend," and the writings of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney were the vehicles that drew him beyond the media's surface presentation. His December visit to Ireland made this understanding tangible; Heaney's line, "The moment where hope and history rhyme," was virtually the theme of the trip.

At the New York dinner, Clinton called Hume "Ireland's most eloquent spokesman of peace," and challenged Irish-Americans to consider the "journey of the soul" made by both Hume and Heaney--a journey that is "a fight against cynicism and giving up, a fight against the anger and anguish that comes from feeling impotent in the face of larger events."

The alternative to persevering in this journey is clear--a return to violence and division. Indeed, some on the Northern Ireland scene had seemed almost relieved at the end of the cease-fire in February. Among Unionist politicians the sentiment seemed to be, "See, we told you you can't trust the IRA." Voices on the other side said, "See, after seventeen months of peace, the British still have not moved, the Unionists still refuse to talk." But the people turned out in huge peace demonstrations in Belfast and Dublin. The faces that had smiled at Clinton in December, now looked stricken. In the heart of the nationalist Falls Road, a crowd that confronted Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, also cheered a woman who said, "If the politicians don't want to Stand and talk to each other about peace, don't give them your votes."

The Unionist leader, David Trimble, attended the American-Ireland dinner in Washington on March 14, something unthinkable a few years ago when most Northern Protestants assumed that Irish-Americans back the IRA. Irish Prime Minister John Bruton, John Hume, and Gerry Adams (a private guest) were also there.

The sense from all quarters is that Irish-Americans must speak with one voice in urging peace. Clinton said that America's gift to Ireland is "unity in diversity." John Hume is his book, A New Ireland (Roberts Rinehart), argues, "The real task of politics is to recognize our diversity and our differences and then find ways to respect and accommodate difference." He cited the motto on America's smallest coin, the penny, E Pluribus Unum, as the only political philosophy possible in a diverse society.

Such ideas make political commentators on both sides of the Atlantic nervous. It is easier to talk about political deals: the Unionists with their nine parliamentary votes can manipulate British Prime Minister John Major because in the last parliamentary challenge to his government his hold on power depended on only one vote. They use their leverage in trying to wring concessions from him on Northern Ireland. In this country, pundits ask in this election year about the role of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in Clinton's Ireland policy. But perhaps the pundits miss the point. Or they miss Clinton's point: "The truth is no one knows whether human nature craves dominance and division over peace and hope, but we all believe we know, and in the believing we can make a new reality....If we believe we are children of God, then what is important is what we are, not what we are not. And that is the gift that Irish-Americans must give Ireland in our lifetime."

In the meantime, in an attempt to work for another ceasefire, the British and Irish governments have announced that all-party talks will begin on June 10. Elections for representatives to the talks will be held in late May in Northern Ireland. Maneuvering on the ground rules for these elections is now going on. But the date seems auspicious. June 9 is the feast of Saint Colmcille, or Columba, the princely monk for whom both the main Catholic and Protestant churches in Derry are named. Unity in diversity--let's hope.

Mary Pat Kelly is the author of the forthcoming Good to Go: The Rescue of Scott O'Grady from Bosnia (Naval Institute Press).