Working with the women of Northern Ireland was "one of the greatest privileges of my lifetime" the US First Lady told a conference in Belfast yesterday.
Newly elected Senator Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation from around 500 women as she took to the stage of the Grand Opera House in Belfast's Great Victoria Street shortly after 11 a.m.
The conference, Women Raising their Voices for the New Northern Ireland, was organised by the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust to mark its 21st year. Her trip to Belfast marked a particularly heartfelt and bittersweet time for her family, she said. "We have been delighted and honoured, challenged and perplexed by our work on your behalf.
Nothing has given us greater joy than to be a small, small part of such a great historic change as you have brought about.
"Building peace anywhere is never easy and there are always people who are the self-appointed doom-sayers, who would rather throw up their hands than roll up their sleeves," she said.
"There always come times when it is just easier to go back . . . But none of us can afford to let that happen. All of our problems are of our own making and so our solutions are of our own making as well."
She said this was one of those "special moments" when there was a chance to defy generations of hatred. "And that is why I have come to Belfast, filled with hope and certitude that this moment will be seized." Mrs Clinton praised the daily "acts of courage" of women in Northern Ireland and mentioned plans for a parliamentary get-together next year of women parliamentarians from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
The First Lady was joined on stage by Mrs Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister, Mrs Daphne Trimble, wife of First Minister Mr David Trimble, ICTU president Ms Inez McCormack, chairman of the Civic Forum Mr Chris Gibson, Ms Mary Black of the NIVT and community worker Ms Kathleen Feenan.
The invited audience included former US ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, her nephew, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Congressman Peter King, the US Secretary for Education, Mr Richard Riley, and Ms Pat Hume, wife of the SDLP leader. Chelsea Clinton did not arrive as expected.
Mrs Trimble welcomed the Clintons, saying they came at a difficult time in the peace process when "murder still walks the streets". She hoped the visit would help secure a "just and peaceful future which is the birthright of every citizen of Northern Ireland . . . the women sitting here today are ready to play their full part in that future".
Ms Feenan of Belfast's Women's Information Group said Mrs Clinton was a champion for women's issues around the world. Ms McCormack congratulated her friend on her electoral victory and said she hoped Mrs Clinton would continue her association with the Vital Voices campaign to include more women in political life.
Mrs Clinton later announced that political and media experts would be coming to the North next year to provide training to those involved in Vital Voices.
There was a warm tribute from Ms Blair, who said Mrs Clinton had done much to encourage women all over the world. "And your commitment to women here in Northern Ireland has been outstanding," she said during the closing address.
Earlier, Mrs Clinton promised to continue to build on the relationship she had built with the women of Northern Ireland. "I will always be there as a friend and an advocate and a partner as you continue the hard, hard work of peace and reconciliation. There isn't any more important work to be done."