Peter Hain Quotes

Funnily enough, Northern Ireland is a great example of where politics can win over conflict. The decision to down arms and follow a political path would have been unthinkable once. It shows just what is possible.

Our stand is crystal-clear - we want peace in Ukraine, which can only be attained through broad national dialogue in which all regions and all political forces of the country must participate.

Sinn Fein has productively taken the example of South Africa and, as we develop the peace process, we continue to use examples from South Africa.

The big missing part of the jig-saw is to get the assembly back up and running here in Northern Ireland, to get shared government back in business, that is my objective, and we await the IRA statement to see if this will trigger a new dawn.

Sudan cannot afford to be on the wrong side of history. The north and south will have to work together, but will they?

Men, once enemies, are now jointly governing in Northern Ireland. And although there have been several hitches, by and large it's working well.

I believe however that peace is attainable regardless of the Arabs mentality, society or government.

The British Government and the Irish Government have accepted very clearly the Mitchell Report.

Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal.

It is neither my intention to depart from the route of John Garang nor to change the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

We extend our hand towards peace. Our people are committed to peace. We know that peace entails painful compromise for both sides.

Along with that ongoing process Sinn Fein took a decision to establish a peace commission which had the responsibility to travel around the country to receive submissions from the general public, also our opponents.

I believe we've spent many years trying to bring about talks which have all the Parties in Northern Ireland involved so that there'd be inclusive talks.

In this context the British and Irish governments will have to promote a new, imaginative and dynamic alternative in which both governments will share power in the north.

Successfully pressuring armed militants to abandon violence and participate in democratic elections requires a favorable political climate. In Northern Ireland and South Africa, armed militants turned away from violence and entered mainstream politics only when the framework of an acceptable political deal was on the table, providing them with a product they could sell to their supporters. The sequence of events was of crucial importance.

There are universal traits and aspects of all these conflicts, and I think that all of them have bridgeable solutions. The only question is whether you are ready to take the challenge, to pay the price, to compromise in order to get more. This, I believe, is the challenge for all the peacemakers in the world.

Peace cannot come without the government of Afghanistan speaking directly to the Taliban or the Taliban talking directly to us.

I'm in the government to make sure that if there's an opportunity to make peace, it won't be missed.

There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society.

I have passed, I hope, many tests over the course of the last 20-odd years in relation to the peace process and intend to continue to work forward in a very sensible and reasoned way with political colleagues in the Executive.

Quite simply, I maintained contact with Sinn Fein and believed that there had to be a political, not a military, solution to the situation in Northern Ireland.

Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.

Military hardliners called me a 'security threat' for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.

Peace in Palestine is inevitable. The question is how do we make it happen today.

Northern Ireland still suffers from its past, and it will take generations to escape sectarianism and for violence to end totally. Nonetheless, it is in a different place now than during the Troubles, and it will not go back to the old days.