Of all the life-changing events Northern Ireland has witnessed over the past two decades, among the most fortuitous was the decision of a little-known governor from the US state of Arkansas to seek America's highest office.

Like all ambitious politicians, Bill Clinton set out to win the keys to the Oval Office in the early 1990s by seeking any and all political advantages available.

Enter Bruce Morrison - a buddy of both Bill and Hillary since being a fellow classmate of the pair at Yale Law School during the 1970s.

Morrison, who'd just wrapped up a eight-year stint as a congressman from Connecticut, helped convince the presidential wannabe to take an interest in Northern Ireland arguing that the issue resonated strongly with Irish-Americans particularly in key states like New York.

At the time, Northern Ireland was synonymous with conflict - as in the most intractable, bloody, and vicious variety on the planet.

Aside from places like Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco - cities with significant Irish and Irish-American populations - mainstream media outlets in America cared little for reporting the steady stream of 'bad news' from Belfast.

That all changed with Bill Clinton. A year after taking up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he ditched past deference to Downing Street and decided to grant Gerry Adams a temporary visa to the US in early 1994.

Given that the IRA's first peace process ceasefire followed six months later, there is little doubt that Clinton, and not John Major (who vehemently opposed the Adams visa), made the right call.

The media, and the world, quickly took notice.

Here was a legendarily intractable conflict that seemed to be moving in the right direction - with the active support of the most powerful politician on earth.

Fast forward to 2009 - beyond the Good Friday and St Andrews agreements, beyond the 'Chuckle Brothers' roadshow and full IRA decommissioning - and both Bill and Hillary Clinton remain personally involved in the goings on in Northern Ireland.

And consider what both have on their plates at the moment.

Bill, the head of his own foundation which employs 800 staff and aims to tackle (mostly in the developing world) such pressing issues as AIDS-HIV, poverty, global warming, and education, was last week hosting his annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.

The four-day gathering drew some of the most wealthy, powerful, famous and influential people on the planet to brainstorm on how to make things 'better' in various corners of the globe.

However, last week, on short notice, he pencilled in a one-hour showcase event where Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, with the energetic assistance of Clinton himself, got to make a pitch for investment in Northern Ireland to hundreds of people with deep pockets and long track records of bank-rolling worthy causes. And then there is H illary. As America's top diplomat, she's in the thick of juggling escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, North Korea's erratic behaviour, percolating power-plays with Russia and China and a myriad of issues from Asia to Africa and Europe to South America.

Yet she also found time for a private meeting with Robinson and McGuinness to discuss the policing and justice devolution impasse in Northern Ireland.

How lucky has Northern Ireland been that the Clintons - who'll someday rank amongst the most important figures in US politics in late 20th and early 21st century - have such a personal interest in the peace process?

"Lucky is an understatement," Bruce Morrison, in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, said.

"And they are the kind of people - and they've demonstrated this - that this isn't a passing fancy.

"At one point, it had a political payback for them. But for neither of them does it now.

"Both of them are committing themselves substantially to playing a role and to trying to be helpful.

"It is huge good fortune for Northern Ireland."