President Clinton has said there is still some hope of finding a solution to the crisis in Northern Ireland over IRA decommissioning. But he was careful not to assign blame. Speaking before flying to Texas yesterday, Mr Clinton said he was working very hard on it and added: "I have some hope we may find a way through this which would enable every aspect of the Good Friday accord to be realised."
"That is, after all, what the people of Northern Ireland voted for overwhelmingly." The President said: "Everyone understands we are at a very important moment. We are trying to keep it going. I think we have a chance."
Repeating a bar-room metaphor which caused some surprise several months ago, the President said: "I hope everyone will belly up to the bar and do their part so that we don't have any kind of backsliding or reversal here. We have come too far."
The President said yesterday he was "quite encouraged that there was universal condemnation of the explosion in Northern Ireland last week. That's a good first step. We just need to keep at it."
Meanwhile, the chairman of Sinn Fein, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, arrived in Washington yesterday to brief members of Congress on the situation.