The Irish Diaries by Alastair Campbell

Author:Alastair Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Bill Clinton, Fiona Millar, Gerry Adams, Mo Mowlam, Peace Process, Ireland, Politics, depression, Good Friday Agreement, British Politics, Irish Politics, Alastair Campbell's Diaries, Cracking Up
ISBN: 9781843516149
Publisher: The Lilliput Press
Published: 2013-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Thursday, September 3

I was up just after 5 to get to Number 10 for the convoy to Northolt. It was pouring with rain. Some of the broadsheets were clear re a DT/GA meeting but there was still no confirmation it was going to happen. TB and John H were getting anxious Trimble may stall right through. On the way to the airport, TB and I were discussing how he should handle Bill [Clinton]. I said there was no mileage in any distance and he should be close. The speech should be a mix of where we are in the peace process, but also talk up BC’s role. Trimble was waiting for us on the plane. TB was working on the speech for the Waterfront Hall [Belfast], while DT read the papers. I made sure he didn’t see the Independent, which was the most firm re a meeting with Adams. We then had a discussion about what DT might say. Trimble said he didn’t intend it to be a big deal, as both TB and Clinton were around and bound to take the headlines. We persuaded him there was an opportunity here and TB asked me to draft a few lines for him. I did, including a further clear hint that he would meet Adams. I never imagined he would deliver them, especially when he just folded the paper and put it in his pocket without comment, but later he did deliver them, as drafted. He told us he was having problems with Ken Maginnis and also with his executive but he believed it could be done. We got TB’s speech finished, arrived and waited for Bill C to arrive. There was the usual over-the-top security getting on everyone’s nerves. I told the advance guy he should get hold of a copy of the Independent for Bill to see. They took it a step further, gave it to Sandy Berger as he landed and he had it under his arm as he walked across the tarmac. But they were clearly desperate for a success story with all the other stuff going on back home.

We left for Stormont, good pictures of TB, BC, Trimble and Mallon on arrival, then upstairs for a meeting. Bill asked a great question – ‘What can I do to help?’ TB said 1. show the three governments working together, 2. put pressure on SF re weapons decommissioning, 3. isolate pro-violence opinion in the US, and 4. economic help. DT was pretty churlish throughout and afterwards BC said to me ‘Someone should tell him that part of the art of politics is smiling when you feel like you’re swallowing a turd.’ He also used that great line from Mario Cuomo [former governor of New York]: ‘You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.’ It’s about who clears the drains, he said. The Yanks were keen to be seen to be doing something for Adams.

Trimble said we were aiming for transfer of functions by February. Anji had a tight

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