Bal Harbour, FL
Over the past several years the AFL-CIO has supported the peace process in Northern Ireland and has encouraged the Clinton Administration to do everything in its power to further it. AFLCIO leaders have met with all the participants, Irish and British, nationalist and loyalist. In consultation with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions we have focused on the issues of fair employment and economic reconstruction.
The recent bombing in London has done grave damage to the most promising attempt in a generation to bring about a just and lasting peace in Ireland.
The progress of the last 18 months is now in danger of being reversed by resumption of an IRA bombing campaign, recriminations between the two governments, and heightened fear and sectarian tension. New investment plans are threatened and courageous leaders such as John Hume and Gerry Adams and their counterparts on the loyalist side face repudiation.
The Clinton Administration has already made enormous contributions to fostering the Irish peace process. The AFL-CIO calls upon it once again to redouble its diplomatic efforts to restore the cease-fire and to put the Irish peace process back on track.