“I guarantee, you’ll be home by Christmas!” That’s how John Major tried to persuade Senator George Mitchell to accept an invitation to chair Northern Ireland’s peace talks in 1996.

It wasn’t, of course, until 1998 when most of Northern Ireland’s parties signed the Good Friday Agreement. “I didn’t say which Christmas,” Major later joked.

You might think that Senator Mitchell would be somewhat tired of Northern Ireland. In 1995 he had just retired as Senate Majority Leader in the United States Congress when President Clinton asked him to go to Northern Ireland as its Special Envoy.

The role turned out to be anything but a gentle transition to retirement; now 83, Senator Mitchell retains a close connection to this part of the world.

On a visit to Queen’s University Belfast today, where a global research institute proudly bears his name, the former diplomat reflected on two important lessons from his experience in Northern Ireland.

First, it takes leadership to move forward. In most democracies, the public tends to hold politicians in fairly low regard “but sometimes people rise to the occasion,” Mitchell observed.

He acknowledged that it was a risk for leaders here to compromise and come to a settlement. They knew that they could face electoral pressure down the line (the fortunes of both the Ulster Unionists and SDLP show us this), but effective leaders stepped up to the plate.

Second, it is so much better to have peace than to have conflict.

This weighed heavily on the minds of representatives in the peace talks in Northern Ireland, but Senator Mitchell hasn’t been able to convince leaders in the Middle East that the only thing worse than a compromise in the name of peace is the absence of one.

Physical conflict is not, of course, the only impediment to a peaceful and prosperous society. “Violence can take away many people’s lives; intransigence can take away many people’s hope,” the Senator warned.

So, with these lessons, does George Mitchell worry about the present political crisis in Northern Ireland? Not really, as it happens.

“I am confident that it will all be resolved,” he affirmed with characteristic, unflinching optimism. “There have been many crises, after all.”

His grounds for such optimism lie not in his confidence in Northern Ireland’s specific leaders and their ability to negotiate, but in his confidence in the people as a whole and their demand for progress.

Back in 1995, Senator Mitchell could easily have settled for an easy life. Then aged 61, and having devoted decades of his life to public service, he had already accomplished a great deal. Instead, he went to Belfast.

Perhaps he offers a third lesson. If we are to continue moving forward, building on the peace that displaced decades of bitter conflict, we would do well – as citizens and leaders – to emulate his patience and optimism.