UK: NORTHERN IRELAND FIRST MINISTER DAVID TRIMBLE AND SINN FEIN LEADER GERRY ADAMS MEET FOR FIRST TIME

Record ID: 190138

  • Title: UK: NORTHERN IRELAND FIRST MINISTER DAVID TRIMBLE AND SINN FEIN LEADER GERRY ADAMS MEET FOR FIRST TIME
  • Date: 10th September 1998
  • Summary: STORMONT CASTLE, BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 10, 1998) RTV 1. SV'S SINN FEIN PRESIDENT GERRY ADAMS ARRIVES AT STORMONT AND ENTERS (2 SHOTS) 0.19 2. WS EXTERIOR STORMONT CASTLE 0.22 3. SLV/WS/SV ADAMS WALKS DOWN STAIRS AFTER MEETING, SAYS: "IT'S NOT UP TO METO GIVE ANY VIEW OR TELL YOU WHAT MR TRIMBLE SAID EXCEPT THAT HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF IN A CORDIAL, CONSTRUCTIVE, BUSINESS LIKE AND WORKMANLIKE WAY. MR TRIMBLE WILL SPEAK TO YOU HIMSELF AND GIVE YOU HIS OWN VIEW OF ALL OF THIS". (ENGLISH) (3 SHOTS) 1.11 4. PAN DOWN FROM BALCONY/NORTHERN IRELAND FIRST MINISTER DAVID TRIMBLE TALKING TO PRESS/VARIOUS TRIMBLE SAY'S:"I AM ENCOURAGED BY THEWORKMANLIKE TONE OF THE DISCUSSIONS WE HAD AND I HOPE THAT WILL BE FOLLOWED THROUGH IN THE WEEKS TO COME - (QUESTION - WORKMANLIKE - (QUESTION - WHAT DO YOU MEAN ENCOURAGED?) -MR ADAMS DESCRIBED THEM AS CORDIAL.... - CIVILISED AND WELL, I'M ENCOURAGED TO THINK THAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN AND OF COURSE WE KNOW ALL ABOUT THE NEED" (ENGLISH) (3 SHOTS) 1.53 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 25th September 1998 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVABR4K11N7TVXNC9DT289V0YPJR
  • Story Text: Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams have held their first ever face-to-face meeting, marking a milestone in the search for peace in the British-ruled province.

    Trimble, the leader of Northern Ireland's majority Protestant community and elected to run a new assembly born out of a peace deal signed in April, smiled and waved but did not speak to reporters as he arrived at the assembly buildings in east Belfast on Thursday (September 10).

    Adams told reporters he was looking forward to meeting Trimble, leader of the pro-British Ulster Unionist Party, and said he believed the two men could "do business".

    "A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.So the development of common ground, of a shared future, and a shared responsibility for that future, has to start with one meeting," Adams said.

    "We will seek certainly to build and to move forward and all the time keep very, very focused on the prize, which is freedom and justice," he added.

    Adams, who was hunted for years as an Irish Republican Army suspect and has the outlawed organisation's support for his "peace strategy", said he wanted to impress upon Trimble that republicans seeking a united Ireland were working towards a vision that was "inclusive, democratic and peaceful".


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