McGuinness hopeful of U.S. investment

By

CAHIR O'DOHERTY,

IrishCentral.Com Staff Writer

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Martin McGuinness

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“When we meet President Clinton at the American Ireland Fund Dinner you can see the buzz in his face as he’s coming toward you. He knows that one of the great successes of his administration was the role that he played in bringing peace to Ireland along with the rest of us,” McGuinness added.
Irish America has everything to be proud of in terms of the invaluable contributions they have made, McGuinness said.

“That role is changing and it’s best articulated now by Secretary Clinton, where her focus -- at our request -- is on economic investment. I find her as energized about the need to do that as she ever was about any of the work she and Bill were involved in,” McGuinness said.

“Her appointment of Declan Kelly as economic envoy to the North is a very strong declaration of her intent in trying to get investment into the North.”
McGuinness and Robinson met with Clinton at the State Department where, with support from Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen, they argued in favor of an extension to the International Fund for Ireland, which the U.S. government has contributed to every year.

“Her take on it was that we shouldn’t be complacent about peace, that we need to recognize that everybody needs to benefit from it, especially where there are areas of social deprivation. Everyone needs to see that they are benefiting from the fruits of the peace process,” he said.

McGuinness said the unified approach between the two main political parties, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists, has also helped to secure economic benefits for the North.

“Hundreds of jobs have been created as the result of linkages we have built up with business leaders here. Now we’re back again and the renewed focus is on economic investment. We are seeing now a comprehensive approach to economic investment,” he said.

In regard to the well-publicized turmoil in Robinson’s personal life over his wife’s infidelity with a teenage lover, McGuinness gave a considered reply.

“Obviously the revelations about his wife were in the public domain and I was concerned. The concern had to be for Peter Robison and his family and the devastating effect this would have on their children,” McGuinness said.

“But also the concern was what impact it would have on the process. Peter’s a strong personality. He has the ability to deal with crisis situations.”
The recent agreement on the transfer of policing and justice from Westminster is a cause for optimism, McGuinness argued.

“I think the outcome from the Hillsborough agreement has hugely strengthened the peace process and hugely stabilized the political institutions, and I have no concerns whatsoever that these institutions are going to collapse between now and the next Assembly elections in 2011,” he said.

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