South Down SDLP MLA Colin McGrath has met former US Secretaty of State John Kerry and NI Peacemaker and former US Senator George Mitchell on a recent trip the the United States.
MLA and party chairman Colin McGrath met with former US President Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry and NI Peacemaker and former US Senator George Mitchell who chaired the peace process leading to the Good Friday Agreement at a conference in Yale University in the US.
Mr McGrath said: “I attended a conference to discuss the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement at Yale attended by a range of politicians, voluntary sector representatives and leading academics from both Queen’s University and Yale University.
“I participated in a panel with fellow MLA’s about the future of Politics here in the North and discussed possible ways to move forward and break the current deadlock.
“Former Secretary of State Kerry and Senator Mitchell were keen to spend time with representatives from the five parties to discuss potential opportunities to break the deadlock at Stormont.
“It remains my top priority to see the institutions returned in order to deliver the best range of local government services and responses to deal with important matters such as health and education and I welcomed the support and encouragement of Mr Kerry and Senator Mitchell.
“It is my hope that in the new year discussions might progress at Stormont but having the involvement of people such as John Kerry will be crucial as politics in these parts still requires support from others especially from out of the North who can possibly act as facilitators in the future to move in the direction of a lasting peace.”
