As the First Minister prepared to step down from the Northern Ireland Executive early next month, the former Maine Senator paid tribute to the 82-year-old North Antrim MP who, 11 years ago, walked out of the negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement.

"I have to say it has been a pleasant surprise seeing what has happened," Senator Mitchell, who chaired the Stormont talks, said.
"Dr Paisley deserves credit for doing the right thing at the right time."

Senator Mitchell was commenting ahead of a conference at Queen's University later this month about how peace in Northern Ireland was achieved.

Among the speakers lined up for the two-day event are former First Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lord Trimble, former Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon, and South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Mitchell Conference will also involve DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who was a member of the Ulster Unionists at the time of the Agreement, and will feature academic contributions.

It will follow a symposium organised by the US Ireland Alliance which took place in Belfast in March and which featured Senator Mitchell, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former SDLP leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey and other key architects of the Agreement.

"Both this conference and the US Ireland Alliance event are useful in their own way but this will be a much broader effort involving people from the island of Ireland and the UK and other parts of the world.
"We are keen that it reflects not just what has happened in Northern Ireland but the implications internationally."

In 2001 Senator Mitchell, who is a chancellor of the university, produced a report on the Middle East which urged the Israelis and Palestinians to reaffirm their commitment to previous agreements and call an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

And while he acknowledged that the template which achieved peace in Northern Ireland could not simply be transplanted into the Middle East or other conflicts, Senator Mitchell said there was a clear desire around the world to learn from the Province.

This was underlined recently by the participation of Martin McGuinness and Jeffrey Donaldson in talks with rival sides in Iraq and the involvement of Northern Ireland politicians in peace processes in the Basque country, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

"I think there were a number of factors in Northern Ireland which led to peace," Senator George Mitchell said.

"Firstly, the public had gotten sick of the conflict. There was a general weariness with war and all the difficulties conflict imposed on everyone.

"The second thing was the governments of Britain and Ireland persevered through several failed efforts and kept the process going until there was agreement.

"Third, I know the political leaders of every country involved - the US, the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland - are subject to criticism and public ridicule but Northern Ireland was very fortunate to have very courageous leaders who were able and willing to do the right thing at the right time."