I fear we are a begrudging lot. We do not fully appreciate the efforts of others, like you, from beyond our shores to help us help ourselves.

When I met you briefly last week we spoke about the historic front page in this newspaper which recorded that night in November 1995 when your husband switched on the Christmas tree lights.

As I walked away from the City Hall last Monday afternoon, I couldn't help but reflect on the contrast between that chilly night 14 years ago and the Belfast of 2009. You made reference to it yourself in your speeches, but for us who have lived here all our lives, the difference between then and now is extraordinary.

I take my hat off to you and your husband for the interest you have shown and I think that unionist and nationalist alike should do the same. The few unionist MLAs who snubbed you at Stormont by shuffling out of the chamber without applauding should be ashamed of themselves.

I can recall that we moaned for years with much justification that Americans had no appreciation of our troubles. Some threw their dirty dollars into fundraising buckets for gun-runners. Many others distanced themselves from their ancestral homeland because of its embarrassing violence.

You and your husband have helped greatly to change the US and global perception of Northern Ireland. I know that some unionists harboured suspicions of your motives within the Democratic Party because of its strong links to Irish-America. But they should acknowledge that the Clinton era in the White House created a sense of political balance towards them which was not apparent before. Washington is a cold house no longer for unionists. I know you said last week somewhat diplomatically you were not going to 'meddle', but America under the Clintons has meddled a lot.

The peace we have today would not have been constructed without an extraordinary level of White House interference in this tiny neck of the woods.

By any standards, your interest in Northern Ireland has been disproportionate, given that there are so many other global conflict zones. You have come here time and again. You and the president have made your transatlantic phone calls and sent your envoys such as George Mitchell. You shouldn't apologise for meddling because you are entitled to be written into our history books for your persuasive role in helping us to resolve so many deep differences.

Your visit last week took my mind back to November 1995.

The Royal Avenue I walked along that night was so different from today's busy, thriving thoroughfare. I remember talking my seat directly beneath the Christmas tree and the podium where you and the president stood.

A ring of security steel surrounded the City Hall, American secret service agents were everywhere. Belfast was starting to experience peace, but there was still fear and tension in the air. The Christmas tree lit up. Two school children read messages of hope for their generation. Both the president and you delivered eloquent and captivating speeches of peace and goodwill.

Yet real life in Belfast was not peace and goodwill that night as your husband discovered when he journeyed on to the Whitla Hall at Queen's University to meet the captains of Northern Ireland industry and commerce and the leading figures from the main political parties.

I remember entering the Whitla Hall and finding Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness standing in isolation amongst the guests. No one was speaking to them. In spite of the IRA ceasefire, they were still political pariahs cold-shouldered by almost everyone there.

I chatted to them for a good 10 minutes while we waited for the president to arrive. No one came near us and I had a sense that faces in the hall were glowering behind my back in disapproval. For all the presidential expressions of seasonal goodwill at the City Hall that evening, this was the reality.

The chasm between our politicians that night was deeper than the Grand Canyon. A US official came over and asked Adams and McGuinness to take their places to meet President Clinton. They were steered towards one end of the hall, positioned as far away as possible from the unionist delegations of David Trimble and Ian Paisley.

Total segregation and separation was the name of the game. There was not the slightest chance that one group might communicate even with a glance at the other. Fourteen years on and there you were, Hillary, sharing the podium outside Stormont Castle with Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, addressing the entire unionist, nationalist and republican Assembly and, in the City Hall, being greeted by people of all creeds and classes.

Thanks for returning to Belfast. I know there are huge issues to be addressed elsewhere which makes your interest in us all the more surprising. We simply have to keep remembering how far we have all travelled from that night in November 1995.

The trouble is, we have a terrible habit of forgetting. We need people at your international level to focus our minds and encourage us to keep going. That's not meddling. That's helping.

Yours, Ed