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Ahern takes Albany

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Speaking in Albany, where he kicked off a week-long visit to New York and Connecticut, Ahern said that progress in the stalled peace process would require three specific commitments in the next three weeks.
Flanked by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had invited him to meet her in the New York state capital, Ahern said that the first requirement was a commitment from the British government to hold the elections before Christmas. He said he had disagreed with the decision by the British government earlier in the year to cancel the elections.
The vote was originally set for May and was intended to restore the institutions suspended by London in October of last year.
Ahern, with Sen. Clinton nodding in agreement, said that the second commitment that was needed was an end to all paramilitary activity.
The third commitment, he said, was one in which restored institutions would be “genuinely worked” by all traditions especially unionists because, the taoiseach said, they had a difficulty with the issue of paramilitary activity.
Ahern said that the time scale for elections is now getting short. The need for an announcement in the next three weeks was because it would then be followed by a six-week campaign period.
That, he said, would bring matter up to the end of November and the start of winter, a time of year not favorable for holding elections.
In reply to a question during a press conference at the College of St. Rose, Ahern did not rule out the possibility of an Irish role in bringing lasting peace to Iraq.
But the taoiseach stressed that any Irish peacekeeping role would have to be under a United Nations Security Council mandate.
At the same time, he indicated that the Irish government was in favor of such a mandate.
“We believe this requires the support of the Security Council and an all-out effort is needed to help achieve such a resolution,” Ahern said.
Ireland, the taoiseach said, was a neutral country but when it came to UN Security Council resolutions, Ireland had served in every part of the world.”
“Our army may not be great in numbers, but when we have been asked we have always contributed, whether it’s East Timor, whether it’s been in Eritrea or any of the other areas of conflict in the world,” the taoiseach said.
Ahern is expected to expand on these views on Thursday when he delivers Ireland’s address to the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ahern’s visit to Albany centered on a private meeting with Sen. Clinton and his receiving of the College of St. Rose Oldcastle Award on Irish American Affairs.
Ahern and Clinton, who embraced warmly after the taoiseach stepped out of a Secret Service SUV, focused much of their meeting on economic issues. Clinton has emerged as a pivotal go-between in efforts to forge economic links between Ireland and upstate New York.
The Oldcastle award — Oldcastle is the U.S. subsidiary of the Irish company CRH plc — was presented to the taoiseach by Sen. Clinton, who described Albany as “an epicenter of American Irish connections and life.”
The presentation took place in the college’s Thelma Lally School of Education and the event was co-hosted by Clinton and the college’s president, R. Mark Sullivan.
Later Monday, Ahern was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by New York Gov. George Pataki at the governor’s executive mansion in Albany.
On Tuesday, the taoiseach met in Manhattan with Dr. Richard Haass, the Bush administration’s special envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process and also toured the Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
Today, Ahern will fly on the Irish government jet to Hartford, Conn., where he will be presented with the Thomas J. Dodd Prize at the University of Connecticut. The taoiseach will also meet with Sen. Chris Dodd, whose father the prize is named after.
Later in the day, Ahern is scheduled to meet in Manhattan with Mexican president Vicente Fox and attend a reception hosted by the Ireland-U.S. Council.
On Thursday, Ahern will address the UN. That evening, he will be awarded an honorary degree at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., after which he will deliver the William and Mary Stack Lecture in Irish history. The taoiseach flies back to Ireland on Friday.

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