Former US Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton has said the progress achieved in Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement cannot be taken for granted and that supporting Bill Clinton in his work in Northern Ireland was one of the greatest privileges of her life.
She was speaking in Dublin's Convention Centre where she was awarded the Sutherland Leadership Award at the Business and Finance Annual Awards.
Ms Clinton said she was honoured to receive an award in Peter Sutherland’s name, saying: "We need leaders like that today, people who stand up and speak out on behalf of bringing us together and not pulling us apart."
She said this is a time when government, business and the private sector need to value not only what it means to be a leader, but what it means to be a citizen.
She said: "Where we see efforts to impose authoritarian views and attitudes, we stands against those forces.
"We, each and every one of us have the power to stand, speak against all of the cruelty, the mean spiritness, the disregard of our commom humanity and to take on our small acts of kindness and courage to keep moving forward together, to push back against the darkness."
Owner and Editor of Business and Finance Ian Hyland said Ms Clinton was given this award because of the scale and consistency of her achievements, blazing a trail to write women into history.
He said now more than even the world needs leaders like Ms Clinton, adding: "The island of Ireland is not just a different place today because of Hillary Clinton, it's a better place because of Hillary Clinton."
