Letter: Northern Ireland has been fortunate to have help of US Consulate – particularly Dean Pittman

He came to Northern Ireland in 2004 as a reward for serving time in the green zone in Baghdad and was here until 2007.

“Out of the frying pan into the fire” may have been his initial thoughts on Northern Ireland but he quickly discovered a society that was coming to terms with the violence that it had experienced and was intent on forging a new and much better future.

And he quickly determined to play his role in helping that continue to evolve, bringing a wealth of experience on tackling the problems we faced with his relaxed, but firm and constructive perspectives, all mixed with a quiet sense of humour.

He also served in Bosnia and Guyana and was US Ambassador to Mozambique.

His Fourth of July celebrations reflected that less serious side of his personality with a diverse guest list from across our civic and political society all enjoying the southern charm of the US, and the sense of friendship and gentle humour that he and it imbued.

During his time here he worked with everyone no matter what their background, leaving his calming imprint, wherever he went, and with whoever he engaged with.

He did have a sense of proportion as to how fortunate we were to live in Northern Ireland compared to his experience of some of the other places he had served in and gently expressed that in a way that it would be heard.

He enjoyed the friendliness of the real character of most of the people here, and through his travels, appreciated the beauty of Northern Ireland.

I know that one of his favourite trips was with myself and his husband Chris, and facilitated by my friend Nick Harkness, who is someone who should be in put in charge of an Ideas Foundation for Northern Ireland, and who organised kayaks for the four of us and a memorable journey from Portrush Harbour, around the Skerries, Dunluce Castle, and then into Portballintrae to enjoy a pint of Guinness as a reward.

At the time I was co-chair of the One Small Step Campaign, a concept of his predecessor Barbara Stephenson, which was promoting a constructively shared Northern Ireland through recognising much of the good practice that was going on here in building relationships, encouraging everyone to do their bit and challenging those who continued to press the divisive buttons to further their particular agenda.

I remember taking him down to a rugby international in Dublin with a crowd of my friends and their 12-year-old children on a bus.

On arrival in Dublin, the caring fathers decided to go for a pint of Guinness in one of the local pubs, just off Grafton Street.

Immediately our children said they would tell their mothers when they got home. The negotiation worked and they were given €10 each and let go, without supervision, into Grafton Street to find something to spend it on.

Half an hour later, standing outside the pub with Dean and enjoying our Guinness, I watched as they came walking down the street with my son, having found something to buy with €10, namely a green, white and gold furry hat on his head and the Irish tricolour draped over his shoulders.

Dean saw the expression on my face and with his sense of humour whispered to me: “One Small Step, Trevor!”

I replied, saying: “ I really must give him my version of Irish history at some point in the future.”

However, we decided that as it was a rugby tricolour to let the kids enjoy it, wrapped around them for the rest of the day, despite the background of some of the fathers.

It did show Dean that relationships could be built in a different way across the island.

He was a realist and pragmatic. At the time of the St Andrew’s Agreement, on several occasions he had to listen to my view that it had empowered the extremes to the detriment of the middle ground, which is the group that ultimately had won the argument in Northern Ireland.

Eventually, he turned to me and advised: “Just roll with the punch and get on with it!”.

Perhaps those words are the best advice for Northern Ireland as we move from where we are now, which is a much better place than it had been 25 years ago, and seek to continue to build a more peaceful, stable and economically prosperous future for ourselves and our children.

We should thank Dean and the other US consul generals and the staff at the Consulate over the years for the input they have had in helping us on the journey we are currently on.

We were fortunate to have their influence and particularly those such as Dean.

In expressing that appreciation, I would also send my sympathies to his husband Chris, his mother Betty and the rest of his family on the tragedy of their loss.

Trevor Ringland, Co Down