Bill Clinton to attend Belfast Agreement anniversary event at Queen's

The event, ‘Building Peace: 20 years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’ is being organised by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s.

President Clinton will join chair of the talks and former US special envoy for Northern Ireland, Senator George J. Mitchell, as well as Jonathan Powell, Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams, Lord David Trimble, Professor Monica McWilliams, Dr Seamus Mallon, Lord John Alderdice, and Peter Robinson as well as a number of community leaders and academics.

Queen’s University’s Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor James McElnay, said: “We are honoured and delighted to welcome President Clinton to Queen’s University to mark the 20th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. His role and influence on the peace process in Northern Ireland was pivotal to ensuring all parties reached agreement in April 1998. To have him back Northern Ireland for this significant anniversary is a privilege.”

Queen’s University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation and Engagement, Professor Richard English, said: “The event at Queen’s which is gathering together all the key influencers from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement period promises to not only reflect upon the achievements of 20 years ago, but to look at how far we have come and indeed how far we have to travel. To have President Clinton, who was such a key figure in the process, joining us for these discussions at Queen’s is hugely significant.”

The 20th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement is on Tuesday, April 10.