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NI leaders set for Obama meeting Obama hails 'heroic' NI response
(about 24 hours later)
US President Barack Obama is to meet Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers during St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington DC. US President Barack Obama has said the people of Northern Ireland responded "heroically" to recent murders.
Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness twice delayed their departure for the US because of three murders carried out by dissident republicans. The dissident republican murders of two soldiers and a policeman sparked widespread public outrage.
They eventually pressed ahead with the trip, insisting that gunmen should not be allowed to dictate their agenda. President Obama said after watching former adversaries uniting in the face of what happened, he had never been so confident that peace would prevail.
The men have been promoting Northern Ireland as a business destination. He was speaking at a St Patrick's Day ceremony in the White House after meeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Northern Ireland is also expected to be on the agenda for Mr Obama's meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the White House. "I want everyone listening to know this - the United States will always stand with those who work towards peace," he said.
They will also focus on the global economic crisis during their 40-minute meeting in the Oval Office. Barack Obama met Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinnessThe murders earlier this month by dissident republicans of a police officer and two soldiers in the space of three days has placed renewed international focus on Northern Ireland.
It is expected President Obama will have an informal discussion with Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness in the company of his National Security Adviser General Jim Jones. President Obama said the "real question" was how the people of Northern Ireland would respond following the killings.
It is thought they may also meet later on at a St Patrick's Day dinner and reception. "Now we know the answer - they responded heroically. They and their leaders on both sides have condemned this violence and refrained from the old partisan impulses," he said.
The murder by dissident republicans of a police officer and two soldiers in the space of three days has placed renewed international focus on Northern Ireland. "They've shown they judge progress by what you build and not what you tear down. And they know that the future is too important to cede to those who are mired in the past."
On Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the killers were "criminals". Reassured
Mrs Clinton said a "handful of rejectionists" were trying "to drag the people of Northern Ireland back into a full cycle of violence and retaliation". President Obama also met Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness in the office of his national security adviser.
The BBC's Washington correspondent Kevin Connolly said the St Patrick's Day celebrations were a "serious opportunity" to promote Irish business. Mr Robinson said he believed both he and the deputy first minister had reassured Americans about the prospects for investment following the recent dissident republican murders.
But the recent murders would "darken the mood" and the politicians would be keen to assess Mr Obama's personal level of interest in the situation, he added. class="" href="/1/hi/northern_ireland/7949550.stm">Obama tackles dissident violence class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7949129.stm">In pictures: Paddy's Day worldwide He said that several US businesses were looking to relocate to Northern Ireland.
Mr McGuinness said "the dissidents' strategy would never unite Ireland in a million years".
The DUP and Sinn Fein MPs who lead Northern Ireland's devolved government had twice delayed their departure for the US because of the killings.
St Patrick's Day visits to the US by politicians from Belfast and Dublin have become a tradition, and the White House marked the occasion by putting green dye in the fountains.
The idea came from First Lady Michelle Obama, who was inspired by her hometown of Chicago's custom of dyeing the river green for the day.
After his meeting with Mr Cowen, President Obama said he hoped to visit Offaly, the Irish county from which his ancestor Falmouth Kearney emigrated to America.
He joked to Mr Cowen: "We may be cousins. We haven't sorted that through yet."