A successful conclusion to the peace process in Ireland would be an inspiration to countries all over the world, the UN Secretary General said in Dublin yesterday.
"Many people around the world are following this process very closely and rooting for it," Mr Kofi Annan told a press conference in the Department of Foreign Affairs. "A success here would be an inspiration for many people in other divided lands. So let's make it work."
Mr Annan was speaking after a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews. The Minister said he and Mr Annan had discussed the financing of the UN and its reform, as well as peacekeeping. They had also discussed the situations in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Libya, Iraq, Congo, East Timor, Angola and Sudan. Mr Annan said he could achieve nothing without "the support of the governments and civil society and people like yourselves . . . It's a messy world we live in, but we should not give up and I think we should join hands and try to do whatever we can."
Mr Andrews said he had given the Secretary General an account of his recent discussion with the Portuguese Foreign Minister about East Timor. He had also briefed Mr Annan on the formation of a human rights commission in Northern Ireland.
Later Mr Annan paid tribute to Irish peacekeepers in a speech at the United Nations Training School in the Curragh, Co Kildare.
Mr Annan attended a dinner hosted by Mr Andrews last evening.
Outside Iveagh House, Mr Annan and the Minister listened briefly to protesters on Algeria and asylum seekers in Ireland.
