Hillary Clinton Makes Return To Tense Belfast

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Hillary Clinton is making a nostalgic return to Northern Ireland but with tension running high over flags, the peace that she and President Clinton helped to build remains far from perfect.

A vote to limit the flying of the Union flag over Belfast City Hall sparked loyalist protests, some violent. 

The civil unrest has been threatening to overshadow Mrs Clinton's visit.

Gavin Robinson, Lord Mayor of Belfast, said: "The US Secretary of State will be no stranger to some of these issues. 

Armagh's Mayor Sharon Haughey, then 14, with President Clinton in 1995

"She's been here in much more difficult times in Northern Ireland and I'm sure she will welcome and mark the progress that has been made and the collective political willingness that we'll not go back to the bad old days of the past."

It was 1995 when the Clintons paid their first historic visit to Northern Ireland.  Thousands turned out to greet them and to herald the dawn of the peace process here.

Teenager Sharon Haughey, who had written a letter about 'The Troubles' to the White House, welcomed them to Armagh.  She's now the city's Lord Mayor and gives them the credit.

Mrs Clinton has already visited Dublin and met children at the US embassy

"The Clintons have played a very important role in the pathway that I have chosen in my life," she said. "They gave me a platform as a very ordinary 14-year-old schoolgirl. 

"They gave me an extraordinary opportunity and I decided to use that opportunity to help shape that future that I wanted and that's really why I'm here today."

The US Secretary of State will attend an American Ireland lunch at Titanic Belfast after a meeting Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Mr Robinson has urged loyalists to suspend their protests over the flag issue. "Those who riot and engage in violence do a disservice to the flag they claim to represent," he said.

His statement followed attacks on the homes and offices of politicians belonging to the neutral Alliance Party, which had encouraged a compromise - the flying of the flag on designated days.

Syria topped the agenda when the US Secretary of State visited Dublin during her trip. 

Regardless of recent setbacks, she'll be keen to celebrate whatever kind of peace she finds in Belfast.

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