Senator George Mitchell:

I cannot, nor do I think anyone can impose an agreement from the outside. It must be internal, organic and created by those directly involved as was the case in 1998.

I recall how on the first day of the main negotiations, which ultimately lasted nearly two years, I told the delegates that I did not come with an American plan. There was no external plan. If an agreement could be reached, and I said I believed this was possible, it would have to be their agreement. It had to be the agreement of the people who were going to be affected by it and live under it. Two years later, on the morning of 10 April, when I presented the final plan to them after tremendously intensive negotiations over the prior two weeks involving the two Prime Ministers and all of the delegates from the eight political parties, I repeated orally what I had said two years earlier. I said "this agreement is your agreement". Every single word in it was written or spoken by someone from Northern Ireland. I encouraged them to approve it, which they ultimately did.

It takes a long time to achieve reconciliation. Before I came to Northern Ireland, I was involved to some extent in the conflict in the Balkans. I recall going to a small town on the border between Croatia and Bosnia that had been devastated in the conflict. It was about half Serb and half Croat. The Serbs had the initial military advantage, took over the town and burned down many of the homes and buildings owned by Croats. A year and a half later, the tide of war changed and the Croats took control and responded in kind. When I got there, virtually every building in town had been either destroyed or damaged. The mayor was a young man. I asked him when he thought Serbs and Croats would again be able to live together in peace. He thought for a while and said, "We will rebuild our buildings long before we repair our souls, but that's what important."

Repairing the souls of the people, particularly those who suffered direct personal loss of a husband, wife, child or friend, is very hard, painful and long-standing. I try not to be impatient or critical. Rather, I try as best I can to be supportive and encouraging. What I have said to the political leaders in Northern Ireland in the current period - the last time I was there was a few years ago - involved citing the example of their predecessors. Those in 1998 who were no different from us. They had been in the conflict. That was really the only difference in circumstance, although it was a substantial one. They had been through the conflict, had seen death and destruction and were worried about their family's safety and their personal safety. That does not exist now. People tend to forget that. Their minds move to other things. For anyone under 25, this all happened before they were born, but we must keep reminding ourselves and them what is at stake and encourage them as best we can to reach agreement. There is no magic formula I or any external person or force can suggest or impose on them. It must come from within - from the courage, strength and vision of the current political leaders of Northern Ireland in particular but also Ireland and the UK.