‘The Middle East can learn from Ireland’s history’: Biden envoy
Interview with Joe Kennedy III
THE US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III has said Northern Ireland has “an awful lot to teach the world” regarding how people from different backgrounds come together to better the place they live in. Mr. Kennedy said this was relevant to places like the Middle East where conflict has been ongoing for decades between Israelis and Palestinians, with the latest episode seeing the death of thousands of Palestinians, the destruction of much of Gaza in response to an attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7.
“This is an issue that President Biden and the entire administration has been dedicating itself to, from the earliest days of October. And not just as a result of what happened on October 7, but a long-term commitment to that region and trying to create the space for a stable and lasting peace,” Mr. Kennedy said.
“I point to what Northern Ireland has been able to achieve as the lesson that I hope will eventually take hold in that region.
“Northern Ireland went through some very dark times, not just for 30 years, but for a long time before that, too with conflict and division, identity, nationality, country, creed amongst others.
“But one of the lasting lessons of this place is that the future is shared, there has to be space for everybody. And Northern Ireland, I think has an awful lot to teach the rest of the world.
“Political leaders in Northern Ireland today have a lot to teach leaders in a lot of places about what it means to understand and respect that difference and to create that space.
“And to know that particularly in a place like the Middle East where people of different backgrounds and beliefs that have called a region home for thousands of years, literally the cradle of history.
“There, there has to be a space for everybody to exist and that has to be one that recognises the sanctity of that future for a child, the children that we saw here, irrespective of how they define
“I think the biggest challenge that Northern Ireland confronts with regards to an American audience is a narrative that the way that Northern Ireland is often interpreted in the US is not through the Northern Ireland of today, it’s through a conception of what Northern Ireland was 30 years ago.
“And part of my job I think, has been trying to shine a spotlight on various people in places that can help tell that other story, right and that other side of the story and say, Yes, we can have this history that is well known. You also have this present that was earned as a result of extraordinarily hard work to make Northern Ireland the happiest region in the entire UK, that Belfast is the safest city in the entire UK,” he explained adding that 1,200 international companies are located in Northern Ireland with 230 of them from the United States.
“My job of being the number one cheerleader and fan and champion for this place has gotten an awful lot easier because of the work that’s been done here over the course of even my tenure by others. I mean, the fact that you’ve got the institutions up and running, the fact that you’ve got First Minister and Deputy First Minister that come from different backgrounds and different traditions and have a different view long term on what Northern Ireland will look like.
“But the fact that they are intentionally and deliberately being at events together and making space for each other and talking about how they’ve got a vision for Northern Ireland but that doesn’t mean the other version can’t also find space here too.
“The fact that they’re governing and there’s tough decisions to be made, but they’re governing.
“The fact that you’ve got now an advantage of the Windsor Framework that provides a unique opportunity for Northern Ireland, unlike any other region in the world.
“And it’s up to everybody. Now we’re going forward to make those potentials to convert them into successes.
“But there’s a lot of hard work that’s being done every day to do that. And that’s what’s got to keep happening going forward.”