The people of Northern Ireland must be "patient, steady and forward looking" at a time of great strain on the peace process, the man who brokered the Belfast Agreement said today.
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Former US senator Mr George Mitchell
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Former US senator Mr George Mitchell, who chaired the talks that led to the Agreement, said he believed that despite recent sectarian clashes in Belfast, the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland were opposed to a slide back into conflict.
"When I announced the Agreement, I said it was a historic step but I also said at the time that by itself the Agreement did not guarantee peace or stability or reconciliation," Mr Mitchell told BBC Radio Ulster.
"I think it is unrealistic to expect that difficulties and divisions that have built up over many decades, even centuries, are going to vanish with the stroke of a pen or in a short period of time.
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"I think that the political leaders are struggling to keep this process together and persuade people that however unpleasant the current situation is, it is much better than the alternative."
Senator Mitchell was commenting as Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams met a group of US Congressmen in west Belfast.
PA