Bill Clinton says ‘miracle’ Brexit did not destroy Good Friday Agreement

Former US president tells DUP that Sinn Fein ‘doesn’t want to jam you’

Former US President Bill Clinton (PA)

Bill Clinton has said it is a “miracle” that Brexit did not destroy the Good Friday Agreement, the deal to end political violence in Northern Ireland.

The former US president said Britain’s exit from the EU was “aimed right at the heart” of the 1998 agreement which led to peace and devolution in the province.

Mr Clinton was speaking ahead of the 25th anniversary of the landmark agreement, the pact he helped broker with last-minute talks when in the White House.

“The idea that it weathered Brexit is a miracle – because Brexit was aimed right at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, even if not intentionally,” he told RTE.

The ex-president also urged the DUP to return to powersharing at Stormont, saying the nationalists in Sinn Fein were not trying to “jam” the unionist party.

“I think we should say, ‘Look, there’s something to work with here’,” he said. “The party that’s getting the most votes now [Sinn Fein] doesn’t want to jam you, they want to work with you to resolve these things.”

He added: “How can we live together? How can we work together? How can we all put our heads on the pillow at night and feel at peace about what our children are going to face?”

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton also told RTE that Brexit had “set back” Northern Ireland.

“I do think Northern Ireland is a very different place than it was 25 years ago, it’s just that Brexit set it back, to be blunt, creating a very difficult situation for Northern Ireland in the midst of separating from the European Union.”

But Ms Clinton said it appeared that situation is “on the way to being resolved”, adding: “Then the next step will be to stand up a government.”

It comes as almost 70 per cent of voters in Northern Ireland think Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal with the EU could bring economic benefits to the region, an opinion poll carried out on behalf of Queen’s University in Belfast has suggested.

Former PM Tony Blair and Bill Clinton (PA)

The polling, carried out by LucidTalk on behalf of Queen’s University in Belfast, shows 69 per cent think that the framework could bring economic benefits for the region, and 66 per cent think the executive at Stormont should return.

Some 48 per cent of respondents who identified as a “strongly unionist” do not see potential economic benefits from the framework.

But seven in 10 of those who identify as “slightly unionist” see potential benefits, as do around nine out of 10 nationalists and others.

Meanwhile, Tory ministers are expected to announce streamlined post-Brexit checks on goods coming to the UK from the EU on Wednesday.

The government has delayed putting in place the checks four times, which are legally required under the Brexit trade deal with the EU.

But the i newspaper reports that the Cabinet Office will publish details on Wednesday of how the new customs and regulatory process will work, before introducing it later this year.

Inspections of food and animal products are likely to be the most thorough, but ministers are expected to announce they have reduced them as much as feasibly possible. The checks are set take place away from the border in order to relieve pressure on ports.