President Obama and First Lady Michelle in Belfast with Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and First Minister Peter Robinson.

President Barack Obama urged Northern Ireland’s politicians today to keep working towards a permanent peace.

Fifteen years after the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement which cleared the way for the power-sharing executive in Belfast, the US president said the world was watching for the next stage of the process.

He hinted it was time for an end to segregated education and housing.

He said: “You need to get this right. You set the example for those who are seeking peace to end conflicts of their own.

“You are their blueprint to follow. You are the proof of what is possible. Hope is contagious. They are watching to see what you do next.”

During an uplifting keynote address to an invited audience of 2,000 people, mainly school students, Mr Obama lauded the Northern Ireland peace process as a model and promised that America would continue to support the Stormont political system.

He added: “Peace is not just about politics. It is about attitudes, a sense of empathy and breaking down barriers in hearts.”

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, the First and Deputy First Ministers of the Stormont power-sharing executive, greeted the president on arrival at the Waterfront and held a brief private meeting before Mr Obama appeared on stage.

Mr Obama acknowledged the challenges that exist.

“There are still people who have not reaped the rewards of peace, there are those who are not convinced that the effort is worth it.

“There are still wounds that have not been healed and communities where tension and mistrust hangs in the air. There are walls that still stand, there are still many miles to go.” He said it was within his audience’s power to change that.

“Whether you are a good neighbour to someone from the other side of past battles, that is up to you,” he warned. “Whether you treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve, that is up to you. “Whether you let your kids play with kids who attended a different church…that is up to you.” The president made a direct appeal for the young people in the audience to do all they could to ensure that Northern Ireland’s peace was lasting.

“Peace is indeed harder than war,” he said. “It’s constant fragility is part of its beauty. A bullet need only happen once but for peace to work we need to be reminded of its existence again and again and again.

“You must remind us of the existence of peace. Remind us of hope again, again and again that despite resistance, setbacks and despite hardship, despite tragedy… You need to remind us of the future.”

Before the president took to the stage, his wife, Michelle, said it had been a priority to meet young people who would be the future leaders of society. The couple are accompanied on their trip by daughters Sasha and Malia.

“Wherever we go, no matter what is on our plate, we always do our best to meet young people,” said Mrs Obama.

Even though Mr Obama visited the Republic two years ago, this is his first trip to Northern Ireland. Later he will travel to the luxury Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, where he will join leaders including Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the two-day G8 economic conference.

Dr Adrian Johnston chairman of the International Fund for Ireland at a peace wall on Springfield Road, Belfast. (Pic: Paul Faith/PA)

Stormont plans to tear down all of Northern Ireland’s peace walls within ten years are ambitious, according to an organisation that has worked with interface communities for the past year.

The International Fund for Ireland (IFI) which has been running a peace walls programme for 12 months said it would not have put a deadline on re-building confidence and addressing security issues.

“Interface walls can only be removed when the time is right and that time will be determined by the communities themselves,” said Dr Adrian Johnston chairman of the IFI.

Northern Ireland’s peace lines are a mixture of traditional walls, fences and gates. They have been built in areas of sectarian tension in Belfast, Derry and Portadown, as well as through the playground of a primary school in north Belfast.

Some tower up to 18ft high (5.5 metres) and may be miles long through areas of dense housing. They were intended to be temporary and protect people from violence during the 30-year conflict but remain 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement which ended the Troubles.

Peace walls have increased in number and scale since the 1994 ceasefires with an estimated 80 currently in existence.

Dr Johnston said a number of communities had requested assistance to positively transform their areas but deep seated problems still need to be addressed.

“The International Fund for Ireland can bring communities to the point where they feel it is safe to remove the peace walls. There are elements of security there – the Department of Justice, the PSNI and the communities have to make that decision themselves. Therefore the International Fund for Ireland would not put a timeline on how long it should be before interface walls come down.

“I think it is ambitious and you do have to have ambitions. One of the things we have to look at is challenging communities to progress. But, change has to be managed very sensitively,” he added.

The IFI was established in 1986 to promote economic and social advance, encourage dialogue and reconciliation between unionists and nationalists.

The peace walls project has been included as part of its new three-year strategy to tackle segregation and promote reconciliation and integration in interface areas.

The overall cost of division in 2001 cost Northern Ireland around $1.6 billion including the provision of segregated social housing and single identity schools.

The strategy also includes a peace impact programme to help “hard to reach areas” suffering from high levels of economic and social deprivation where there are low levels of engagement with statutory agencies and where the peace process has not delivered.

Dr Johnston said: “As peace building has evolved, so too have the challenges and much work is still needed to address prevailing sectarian tensions.

“The community transformation strategy recognises the new reality on the ground and looks to support communities that are still affected by the threat of violence. It is particularly focused on addressing the root causes of sectarianism and, in some cases, is making the first effort to tackle very difficult and sensitive issues.

“The credibility, flexibility and widespread acceptance of the Fund means it is able to access all communities and constituencies including those viewed as being beyond the reach of governmental interventions. This strategy looks to make the most of our unique position and enable more communities to engage in peace building and development activities. It is an important and necessary response to the new challenges at community level.”

Last month the First and Deputy First Ministers unveiled their Shared Future Strategy which includes the target of bringing down all of Northern Ireland’s peace walls by 2023.

Another project is to establish a ”united youth programme” in which 10,000 people aged between 16 and 24 who are not in education, employment or training would be given a one-year placement with a stipend.

An all-party group with an independent chairman is to be established to deal with contentious issues like flags.

Liam Adams, brother of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, arrives at Belfast Laganside Court. (Pic: PA)

Gerry Adams never confronted his brother Liam about child sex abuse allegations involving his daughter, a court has heard.

During interviews given under caution to the PSNI in February 2007, Liam Adams rejected claims that the Sinn Féin president had quizzed him about the alleged abuse of his daughter during a meeting in Co Donegal 20 years earlier.

“This definitely did not happen,” Liam Adams said in a police statement which was read to the court.

The 57-year-old from Bearnagh Drive in west Belfast also emphatically denied to police that he had confessed to the alleged abuse during a walk in Dundalk with his older sibling in 2000.

During cross examination of PSNI Detective Inspector Eamon Corrigan, who was the lead interviewing officer in 2007, the defence lawyer said a confession was of critical importance and would have been seen as a major breakthrough in the investigation.

“This was a potentially explosive piece of evidence coming from a man of international standing,” Joe Brolly told the court.

Mr Corrigan replied: “If a person had that knowledge it would be important regardless of the person’s standing.”

Liam Adams is accused of 10 counts of child sex abuse including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency against his daughter Áine, now aged 40, who has waived her right to anonymity.

He has denied all the charges against him.

On Monday, Belfast Crown Court heard how Gerry Adams had not told police about the alleged confession until October 2009 despite making a statement to the PSNI more than two years before.

Mr Brolly asked the detective: “Did he refer anywhere in that detailed three page statement about his brother having confessed to him between 2001 and 2007 or alternatively during a stroll in Dundalk in 2000 when it was raining?”

The lawyer later suggested: “There was not a whisper of a confession from Mr Gerry Adams.”

Mr Corrigan said: “That information was not given to us or it would have been put into a statement.”

Liam Adams also rejected claims the Sinn Féin leader had threatened to hit him with a hammer.

“Sorry for laughing but Gerry would not hit anybody with a hammer,” he said.

Throughout the three police interviews details of the sex abuse claims made by Áine Adams were put to her father.

He told detectives he could not think of any reason why she would make up such grave claims.

“I do not know why. I am well known around the place for helping people. I am not like that. I am not that type of person,” he said.

Liam Adams also categorically denied confessing to his second daughter Sinéad Rossbotham in 2002.

“Can I just utterly refute that? Utterly,” he said.

And, Liam Adams also denied that his ex-wife Sarah Campbell had confronted him about the alleged abuse.

It was also revealed Liam Adams had replied ‘OK’ when arrested by detectives from the rape crime unit in 2007.

The case, presided over by Judge Corinne Philpott, is being heard in front of a jury of six men and six women.

The trial continues.

The scene after a double-decker bus carrying a party of wedding guests overturned into a field on the outskirts of Lisburn. (Pic : PA)

Fourteen people have been taken to hospital after a double-decker bus carrying a party of wedding guests overturned in Northern Ireland.

The privately rented vehicle, which had been carrying 60 people, crashed into a field on the outskirts of Lisburn just after 4pm on Saturday (Irish time).

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said none of the guests had suffered life-threatening injuries.

“We sent 11 vehicles to the scene along with a doctor and ambulance officer,” said NIAS spokesman John McPoland.

“Fourteen people were hospitalised. Seven were taken to the Lagan Valley Hospital (in Lisburn) and seven were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital (in Belfast), all with non-life threatening injuries.

“The 46 other people were checked out at the scene.”

The crash happened on the Ballynahinch Road, around three miles (4.8km) south of Lisburn.

The former British Secretary Of State for Northern Ireland said yesterday that the only thing Margaret Thatcher ever told him was that the Irish were “all liars” and not to be trusted.

Peter Mandelson revealed the 1999 exchange as he explained why he did not want to attend the former premier’s funeral service, which took place on Wednesday.

“I didn’t feel I knew her well enough” to apply for the tickets offered to peers, he told BBC Radio 4′s Today.

“Although I helped to organise the Labour Party’s opposition to her policies throughout the 1980s, I only ever met her once.

“It was the day I was appointed Northern Ireland secretary and our paths crossed.

“She came up to me and she said, ‘I’ve got one thing to say to you, my boy … you can’t trust the Irish, they are all liars’, she said, ‘liars, and that’s what you have to remember, so just don’t forget it’.

“With that she waltzed off and that was my only personal exposure to her.”

Peter Mandelson, one of the central architects of New Labour, has criticised the scale of the funeral but accepted the Iron Lady “reframed British politics”.

“I think what she was right to do was to bring home to us the reality that Britain could not afford rampant inflation, that state monopolies needed commercialising, that personal tax rates were too high and that enterprise was too unrewarding,” he said.

“She was also right to argue that deregulation can be a valuable spur to innovation and efficiency and of course she tackled what was then a very disruptive and irresponsible trade union culture. “But the truth is also that in cutting back the state necessarily, she overlooked what the state can also do successfully.”

Mourners line the streets near St Mary’s Church to watch the funeral procession of the 13 people who died on Bloody Sunday in 1972.

The families of 13 people killed by soldiers in Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday have been offered $75,000 each in compensation.

Paratroopers opened fire on innocent civil rights marchers in Derry in 1972.

Thirteen others seriously injured have also been offered $75,000 each as part of a total compensation package from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) worth around $1.9m.

Kate Nash, whose brother William was killed and father Alex injured, said: “My brother cannot be replaced and all the money in the world won’t bring him back.”

A solicitor for one of the families said the offer was derisory and an insult to those killed.

There have been months of discussion between lawyers for the MoD and the families’ legal teams.

Her father, Alexander Nash, saw his son William, 19, being shot by members of the Parachute Regiment in the Bogside area on Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972, and went to help him. He was then shot and wounded himself.

Ms Nash said she was simply interested in accountability and not money. She said: “I became slightly outraged at that. How do they pick out the seriously injured? My father recovered, he was shot through the arm and the side. My father was in a bunker watching his son die. How in terms of compensation could you ever make up for that?”

She added: “My father was not just physically seriously injured, he was mentally seriously injured.” He died in January 1999.

The Saville Report into Bloody Sunday was published in June 2010, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise to the families and describe the killings as “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

The massive document, which took 12 years to complete at a cost of $291m, was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers killed people without justification.

Fergal Davis: The Belfast Agreement is the only show in town.

Northern Ireland is a divided society.

That fact is acknowledged in its political framework – members of the Legislative Assembly have to formally declare themselves to be nationalist, unionist or other.

This is division that makes NSW Labor look united.

In recent years it has become easy to forget the depth of the divide.

First, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness became the Chuckle Brothers as First Minister and Deputy First Minister; then McGuinness announced his love of cricket.

You couldn’t say that politics was being normalised – there was nothing normal about it – but something was happening and by and large we celebrated it.

And then (as far as the world was concerned at least) Northern Ireland erupted into violence over the issue of how many days the Union flag should fly over Belfast City Hall.

“Democracy” was thrown into chaos by something so innocuous as a flag.

First, the whole point of flags is that they are symbols: positive or negative. I once read an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about a Palestinian factory that made flags.

Their biggest line was Israeli flags bought by Palestinians to burn at protests. It struck me as a story worthy of Flann O’Brien.

In Belfast, the symbolism of flags is well-known. Terrace ends are adorned with murals. Flags are abundant. Even kerbstones are painted

The second, and perhaps more significant point, is that despite the Chuckle Brothers’ routine, Northern Ireland remains divided and it is NOT a democracy.

The Belfast Agreement enshrined an anti-democratic system of government. Let’s say that again – if the Belfast Agreement was Sunningdale for slow learners then – it is worth repeating that the agreement is ANTI-democratic.

The agreement created a mandatory coalition system. All parties are represented in the executive. That is to say ALL parties have a minister in the government of Northern Ireland.

There is NO opposition – like Queensland under Newman but this is actually the way the system is supposed to work.

That is not democratic and it skews politics.

Two parties have benefitted from mandatory coalition: Sinn Féin and the DUP.

The DUP actually opposed the agreement. They operated within the coalition – thereby gaining credibility from being in government – but all the time they complained.

So, they could appeal to the hard attitude in unionism and loyalism who opposed the agreement while at the same time benefitting from it.

The striking thing about the Belfast City Council vote on flying the Union flag is that it was democratic.

Power-sharing does not extend to City Hall – all that was needed was a simple majority.

Northern Ireland is a divided society. Flags are symbols and symbols matter.

If the violence is going to stop, people need to (re)commit to the counter-majoritarianism of the Belfast Agreement.

There are two other possibilities: we find a new way or we go back to the old ways.

A new way seems unlikely. The old ways are unthinkable. That leaves the Belfast Agreement: it is anti-democratic, but it’s the only show in town.

Fergal Davis is a Senior Lecturer in Law at The University of New South Wales. He tweets at @Fergal_Davis.

Holly Reynolds (4) joins protestors at a peace rally in Belfast on Sunday. Pic: PA

Politicians in Northern Ireland have not given up on building a shared future, Stormont’s First Minister vowed.

Peter Robinson said the only way to end violence was through the political process.

Almost 100 police officers have been injured during weeks of loyalist protest over the Union flag. A second peace rally was held outside Belfast City Hall on Sunday.

Mr Robinson said: “We took some difficult decisions, some might say historic decisions, to build a shared society in Northern Ireland.

“I think it is important to tell the wider community in Northern Ireland and our friends in the rest of the United Kingdom that we are not giving up on that.”

Mr Robinson and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are due to meet with the British and Irish governments this week.

The DUP leader said talks with Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore would address all outstanding issues.

The First Minister added: “We are very much of the view that we are determined that we build the kind of society where everybody can have a peaceful and stable existence.”

On Saturday some of east Belfast’s worst rioting broke out since Belfast City Council decided to restrict the flying of the flag from the City Hall to designated days like royal birthdays at the start of last month.

Sectarian clashes between loyalists returning from a city centre protest and republicans living in Short Strand were broken up by police, who braved bricks, fireworks and other missiles thrown from the angry crowd.

They responded with water cannon and non-lethal baton rounds.

Around a thousand people attended a peace rally at Belfast City Hall on Sunday.

Many young people and families joined the demonstration, but they pointedly stood on the pavement rather than blocking the road, a favourite tactic of loyalist protesters.

There were five minutes of noise – horns, shouting and whistling – to symbolise the silent majority speaking out, and a huge round of applause ended the gathering.

One said: “It is about taking back the streets.”

Mr Robinson condemned those responsible for violence but told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show protesters in relatively deprived east Belfast had become alienated.

“There are political issues and people that feel disengaged and people that feel if we are trying to build a shared future they are not getting their share,” he said.

A total of 99 officers were injured and more than 100 arrests made during weeks of sporadic trouble, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.

Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer praised his “courageous” colleagues.

Chief constable Matt Baggott said the vast majority of people were grateful for their efforts.

Businesses in Belfast’s city centre have struggled to cope as some customers avoided the area over fears of encountering trouble.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned some investors may think again, and estimated £15 million was already lost to the local economy because of rioting.

Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce has called an urgent meeting with Belfast retailers to discuss the downturn in trade over the Christmas period and the continuing hardship suffered by the business community.

Loyalist riots have continued in Belfast with 29 police officers injured in the latest violence.

Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer has praised his “courageous” colleagues after sectarian rioting left 29 members of the force injured.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Matt Baggott said the vast majority of people were grateful for their efforts as fireworks, bricks and other missiles rained down on them.

Violence broke out in east Belfast between republicans and loyalists returning from a protest at Belfast City Hall over a council decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag there.

The chief constable said: “This was a difficult operation dealing with a large number of people determined to cause disorder and violence. My colleagues brought the situation under control with exceptional courage and professionalism.”

Trouble erupted this afternoon on the Albertbridge Road near the nationalist Short Strand and police separated the opposing factions.

As the loyalists approached the Short Strand there was violence across the interface with missiles being thrown by rival factions, which resulted in a number of properties being damaged in the Short Strand. Police used water cannons and fired six baton rounds as they forced the two sides apart.

Four officers were taken to hospital, two have been discharged. Mr Baggott added: “I know the vast majority of people will be grateful for their efforts. Police will continue to engage with all those committed to finding a solution to these issues.”

Demonstrators were returning from a 500-strong protest outside Belfast City Hall against the council’s decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag to designated days like royal holidays.

According to police they were made aware that the preferred route home would bypass part of the Short Strand. Instead they gathered at a bridge barred by officers then broke away and ran towards Short Strand by different roads. Countless routes have been blocked during the loyalist campaign – in one case north of Belfast a pensioner trying to visit his dying wife in hospital was turned back.

He said: “If your wife was dying what would you be doing? Have a bit of sense. Protestants, you don’t know the meaning of the word, take yourselves home, show a bit of respect for people.”

They responded by jeering “cheerio” in a recording made by the BBC.

In west Belfast a GP was twice prevented from attending a home visit with a patient terminally ill with cancer.

Pat Kerr has cancer but had to wait while his GP tried to get through a road block in West Belfast last night for a home visit.

His daughter Nicky expressed disbelief. “It’s already a very stressful situation without worrying if we can get him to the hospital or to medical attention,” she said.

“To me, the most important thing is someone’s health, rather than anything else that’s going on.”

Nationalist SDLP MLA Conall McDevitt said: “These are depraved acts which immediately dismiss any claim on a protest being peaceful.”

Senior politicians from Belfast, Dublin and London are to meet next week to discuss the protests after more than 40 days of road blocks and sporadic violence by loyalists failed to produce a solution.

Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy Martin McGuinness will join Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Ireland’s Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

Mr Gilmore said: “This violence is being orchestrated and those behind it are known criminals, intent on creating chaos. “This has nothing to do with real issues around flags and identity in a shared society, which are the subject of intensive political discussions at present.”

Ms Villiers urged restraint. “We can’t afford to have these continuing protests damage our economy and destroy potential jobs for Northern Ireland’s young people,” she said.

Almost 100 officers have been injured and over 100 arrests made during weeks of sporadic trouble, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said. Businesses in Belfast’s city centre have struggled to cope, with many reporting lost trade, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned some investors may think again.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said there should be a cross-community response. “But there can be no going back. The tiny minorities who want to cling to the past must be rejected. Sectarianism must be tackled and ended.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt has co-chaired a unionist forum designed to address grievances. “Street violence from so-called unionists, no matter what age, advances nothing but the cause of Irish nationalism. It is high time those involved in rioting realised they are destroying the very cause the hope to promote.”

A burning barricade on the Newtownards road area of Belfast, Police arrested a man after shots were fired at officers during rioting, after Loyalist protestors converged on Belfast city hall. (Pic: PA)

Frontline police officers have reported coming under gunfire as fresh loyalist violence erupted in Northern Ireland over the flying of the union flag.

One man, aged 38, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, while two others were also detained amid ongoing street disturbances.

More than 1,000 demonstrators marched on Belfast’s City Hall yesterday, but despite tense scenes and some scuffles the rally passed off without major incident.

There was a heavy police presence, including officers in riot gear with dogs stationed within the historic civic building itself and on surrounding side streets.

But as the flag-waving crowds dispersed, ugly scenes flared again – for the third night in a row – on the Newtownards Road in the traditionally unionist east of the city.

Police again came under attack from a missile-throwing mob of around 100 loyalists, who hurled bricks and fireworks at officers.

A section of the usually busy Newtownards Road – between Bridgend and Hollywood Arches – was shut down because of the sporadic disorder.

There were no immediate reports of any police injuries. A PSNI spokesman said they were investigating reports from their own officers that a number of shots were fired at police lines.

Conall McDevitt, policing spokesman for the nationalist SDLP, said the firing of shots at police officers ended any claim to legitimacy by protest organisers.

“Whatever grievance some people may have had, it is totally lost when they allow people to use these protests as cover for attempted murder,” said the South Belfast MLA.

“There is only one response possible – and that’s a firm policing response against everyone involved in illegal protests and anyone seeking to organise or encourage illegal or violent demonstrations.”

Mr McDevitt urged unionist leaders to publicly reject the protests “before someone is killed or seriously injured”.

Loyalist violence last night saw 18 people arrested and nine police officers injured. More than 30 petrol bombs, along with fireworks, ball bearings and masonry were hurled at officers during a sustained attack in the east of the city. Up to 300 people were involved in the disturbances.

None of the police injuries are life threatening, however one female officer required medical treatment at the scene by an ambulance.

Three attempted vehicle hijackings were made in the Beersbridge Road area while a business premises on the O’Neill Road was broken into, damaged and money stolen from it.

The PSNI said they will be seeking further arrests in the coming days in relation to the disorder and have appealed for witnesses.

On Thursday 10 police officers were injured during a demonstration in east Belfast.

Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson has said violence against the police was a “disgrace” and those behind days of unrest were playing into the hands of dissident republicans.

Street protests have been going on for more than a month now against the decision to reduce the number of days the Union Flag is flown from Belfast City Hall. There have also been death threats to politicians.

Mr Robinson said: “The violence and destruction visited on the PSNI is a disgrace, criminally wrong and cannot be justified.

“Those responsible are doing a grave disservice to the cause they claim to espouse and are playing into the hands of those dissident groups who would seek to exploit every opportunity to further their terror aims.”

He said some demonstrators were employing language borrowed from the republican handbook to demonise police and undermine the DUP through a call for direct rule from London.

“All right-thinking unionists will want to channel their energies into political activity and to support the cause of finding political solutions to the problems that we face,” Mr Robinson said.

“In Northern Ireland the ballot box has primacy and is the only vehicle for choosing the people’s representatives.”

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore condemned the latest attacks on police officers.

“These attacks over the past three days are not the mark of legitimate protest but are the actions of a small group who want to bring Northern Ireland back to a darker past,” he said.

Mr Gilmore said the Irish government fully supports the efforts of and will remain in close contact with elected leaders in Northern Ireland to resolve the flags issue.