The 10 boys and girls from the fifth class of Mount Hanover School in Duleek, Co Meath, did not recognise the tall man who greeted them at the Irish Ambassador's residence in Paris yesterday. The children, aged 10 and 11, had heard of the Belfast Agreement, thought it was a good thing and hoped it would work, but were unaware of Senator George Mitchell's existence.
Mr Mitchell wore a blue suit; the children wore track suits and runners as they prepared to leave for Disneyland with Mr Mitchell and another Irish-American, Mr Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney. "I'm a member of the board of directors of several large American companies, including the Walt Disney Company," Mr Mitchell explained. "Each year the Walt Disney Company and UNESCO host a Children's Summit at Disneyland. I've been invited."
Were there any similarities between chairing the negotiations and accompanying children to Disneyland? "Well I'm going to conduct a couple of workshops tomorrow on conflict resolution among children," Mr Mitchell said. "There are several hundred children from around the world, future leaders."
In this surreal juxtaposition of Ireland's peacemaker and Disneyland, Mr Mitchell will be interviewed live today by erstwhile presidential candidate, Dustin the Turkey, on RTE's The Den.
This is all part of Mr Mitchell's post-agreement life, in which he is determined to "get re-acquainted" with his wife and infant son and resume his law practice - "activities which I had not been able to do in the last few months. My role (in Northern Ireland) is over," Mr Mitchell said, insisting he will not take part in the implementation committee.
Mr Mitchell knows it can be hard to extricate oneself from Ireland: at each step of his four-year career there, he was told it was only for a few months. He first became involved in 1994 when President Clinton asked him to be special adviser on economic initiatives in Northern Ireland. Then the British and Irish governments asked him to chair the international body on decommissioning, which led to his appointment as chairman of the negotiations in June 1996.
"I don't miss the negotiations yet," he laughed. "Maybe a time will come in my life when I miss them, but I was very glad they were over. It was very long, very difficult, often tedious. What sustained me was the knowledge that we were doing something important."
Last week, on his first return to Belfast since Good Friday, Mr Mitchell learned that the IRA was refusing to give up its weapons.
"Both the report of the international body on decommissioning which I chaired, and this agreement, include an affirmation by the parties of the commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations," Mr Mitchell said. "It must occur and I think it will occur." It is always possible the peace process could founder, he said, "but I don't think that's likely to occur".
"The reason why it's important to have a large positive vote on May 22nd is for the public to make it clear to the political leaders that they want this agreement to be implemented."
