USA: BILL CLINTON ON N.IRELAND PEACE PROCESS

(15 Jul 1999) English/Nat President Clinton has lamented the latest breakdown of the Northern Ireland peace process and compared the dispute to a childish argument over "who goes first". Peacemaking efforts were thrown into disarray when Northern Ireland's major Protestant party refused to nominate ministers for the new provincial administration, derailing hopes for forming a government of Protestants and Catholics after a year of deadlock. Bill Clinton was meeting a group of young anti-gun lobbyists at the White House when he was asked about the latest crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process. The U-S president's reply seemed to suggest he thought the political leaders in Belfast were behaving childishly. SOUNDBITE: (English) "On Northern Ireland, let me say that this is a difficult day for those of us who have worked for years and who have worked for the last several weeks. It is a particularly difficult day for Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Ahern who have performed heroic service and it is hard for most Americans and I am sure most people throughout the world to understand how a peace process could be stalled when both sides agree on every element of the peace process. And both sides agree on exactly what they both have to do between now and next May. And the idea that this whole think could fall apart over an argument over who goes first sounds more reminiscent of something that might happen to these young people in their school careers six or seven years earlier in their lives." SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President But Clinton insisted that the peace process would not be allowed to collapse simply because of the intransigence of the parties taking part in it. SOUNDBITE: (English) They are having a fight over who goes first and acting today as if the whole thing could be abandoned over that. That cannot be allowed to happen. I do not believe it will be allowed to happen, I belive there is too much invested in this and I believe that sooner rather than later we'll get this thing back on track but I've done what I could. SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President The U-S president has played a leading role in bringing the protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland together and has visited the province three times since the peace process began. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...