The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, assured Americans yesterday the peace process had survived last week's major setback, and she urged President Clinton to remain engaged.
Dr Mowlam, who was meeting Mr Clinton's National Security Adviser, Mr Sandy Berger, and members of Congress, said she foresaw a period of more flexible discussions after high-pressure negotiations ended in deadlock.
"The Good Friday agreement is still alive, still functioning," Dr Mowlam told a news conference.
"I believe that with the arrival of Senator George Mitchell, and [with] everybody willing to keep trying, we will begin again to make the progress that was made in the past," she said.
Mr Clinton said yesterday he was "very disappointed" at recent developments but still found reason to be hopeful.
"Obviously I am very disappointed at the breakdown of the process here," he said, but added that neither side wanted to scrap the process.
"My instinct is that we will get this worked out," he said. "We're tied by blood and emotion to the Irish struggle."
Asked what Mr Clinton could do to help now, Dr Mowlam said: "If President Clinton continues to do what he so admirably has done in the past, which is talk to the parties and support the [British and Irish] prime ministers in everything they do; if he can do anything to stop incriminations and build the trust and confidence of the parties concerned, then a lot of the work that he has already put in will reach fruition."
She said a May 2000 deadline for the implementation of the Belfast Agreement was firm and should be regarded as such despite the failure to meet several deadlines in the past few months.
In the short term she said she expected Senator Mitchell to adopt a more flexible approach. "We tried hot-housing," she said. Now it was a time for "flexibility and space". "They still don't trust each other enough to make progress," she added.
Dr Mowlam, who will also meet Irish-American groups and politicians in New York and Boston before returning to London tomorrow, declined to discuss reports that the British Prime Minister Mr Blair is considering shifting her from the Northern Ireland post.
"I would much prefer this morning to stick to politics rather than to the personalities," she said.