Northern Ireland delegates visit Fayetteville, Clinton home
Posted on Tuesday, July 3, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/54679/
Former President Bill Clinton played an important role in uniting the people of Northern Ireland, political leaders from the country said Monday during a visit to Clinton’s first home with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Fayetteville.
The Clinton House Museum was the first stop in Washington County for seven delegates from Northern Ireland. They also visited the Washington County Courthouse and the University of Arkansas.
The trip is part of a 12-day political exchange program organized by the American Council of Young Political Leaders in which the delegates visited Memphis, Tenn., Little Rock, Fayetteville and Bentonville before going to Philadelphia, Pa.
Program Officer Kristin Rhebergen said the program is aimed at exposing the delegates to the American political system as well as aspects of American culture.
The program exposes them to two different states, representing different geographical regions and political environments, she said.
On Sunday, the group met with Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and toured the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock.
Since Clinton played a big role in brokering the Good Friday agreement in 1998, Rhebergen said, the council wanted the delegates to visit the former president’s home state.
Richard Cushnie, first secretary of the British Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, said he was interested to see the house where Bill and Hillary Clinton lived in their first years together.
“ Having gone to the library yesterday, it’s good to put the two of them together, ” he said. “ He obviously had an interest in Northern Ireland, so it’s good to see some of the background. ”
The group also visited the Washington County Courthouse and met with Circuit Court Judges Kim Smith and William Storey to learn about the state’s judicial system.
Hugh Widdis, legal advisor for the Northern Ireland Assembly, said Ireland has a program for nonviolent offenders similar to the community corrections program in Arkansas.
“ We focus on restorative justice, ” he said. “ The main element is getting people back into the community. ”
While the program is still somewhat new to the country, Widdis said, it seems to have a better chance of keeping people from reoffending.
In addition to visiting Fayetteville, the group went to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. and visited Central High School in Little Rock.
Desmond Ward, a member of the Banbridge District Council, said the trip marks his first visit to the United States.
“ You don’t really experience America until you leave Washington, D. C., and come to the South, ” he said.
Ward said he represents an area with a landscape similar to Washington County.
“ I represent a small rural area, ” he said. “ We have a lot of the same issues that affect farmers. ”
Part of what encouraged him to come on the trip was his limited knowledge of American politics, Ward said.
“ My knowledge of politics is very limited to Britain and Ireland, ” he said.
The program also has given him the opportunity to meet with various political figures.
“ We’ve met with all kinds of people that we normally wouldn’t have access to, ” he said.
The group was hosted in Fayetteville by Mike Hathorn, an alumni of the American Council of Young Political Leaders. Hathorn, a former state representative from Madison County, said he went to China with the exchange program and was glad to have the opportunity to host a group in Arkansas.
“ It’s a phenomenal experience and an amazing program, ” he said.