Documents / Official release
This is a White House Office of the Press Secretary transcript of remarks by President Clinton and the First Lady at the lighting of the Christmas tree at Belfast City Hall, Northern Ireland, on November 30, 1995. It was forwarded by email on August 28, 1998. Most of the speech is about the Northern Ireland peace process and children's letters. Answering a letter from a 13-year-old named Ryan, the President jokes that as far as he knows no alien spacecraft crashed in Roswell in 1947.
“Cooper”1 page
Christmas of peace. (Applause.) As I look down these beautiful streets, I think how wonderful it will be for people to do their holiday shopping without worry of searches or bombs; to visit . loved ones on the other side of the border without the burden of checkpoints or roadblocks; to enjoy these magnificent Christmas lights without any fear of violence. Peace has brought real change to your lives. Across the ocean, the Al11erican people are rejoicing with you. We are joined to you by strong ties of community and commerce and culture. Over the years men and · women of both traditions have flourished in our country and ~elped America to flourish. And today, of course, we are forging new and special bonds. Belfast's sister city in the United States, Nashville, Tennessee, was proud to send this Christmas' . tree to friends across the Atlantic. I want to thank the most prominent present resident of Nashville, Tennessee, Vice President Al Gore, the Mayor, Phil · Bredesen, and the United States Air Force for getting this big tree all the way across the Atlantic to be here with you tonight. (Applause.) In this 50th anniversary year of the end of World War II, many Americans still remember the warmth the peopie of Northern Ireland showed them when the. army was stationed here under General Eisenhower. The people of Belfast mim,ed General Eisenhower an honorary burgess of the city. He viewed that honor, and I quote, , "as a token of our commonjmrpose to work together for a better ~orld." That mission endures today. We remain Americans and as people of Northern Ireland, . partners for security, partners for prosperity and, most important, partners for · peace. (Applause.) Two years ago, at this very' spot, tens of thousands of you took part in a day for peace, as a response to' some of the worst violence Northern Ireland had known in recent years. The two morning papers, representing both traditions, sponsored a telephone poll for peace that generated almost 160,000 calls. In the United States, for my fellow Americans who are here, that would be the equivalent of25
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 6 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.