In the latest round of who’s-got-the-real-experience-in-foreign-policy, Hillary Clinton tells ABC News:

Then she added a new line– that she had a role in the Irish peace process. “I was deeply involved in the Irish peace process,” Clinton said. “And I know it’s frustrating. It took years before the Catholics and the Protestants before Sinn Fein and you know, the DUP would even talk to each other,” she added referring to the once-warring parties.

I’ll give Hillary Clinton a smidgen of credit – she did travel to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland several times, and held meetings. She visited Belfast in 1995 and 1997, spoke at the University of Ulster. But much of her visit was lighter, more ceremonial roles, such as lighting the Christmas tree at Belfast City Hall. She read letters from Catholic and Protestant children hoping for peace. Nice gestures, but I’m not sure they could be cited as decisive factors.

If it comes down the the definition of “deeply involved”; most would give the lion’s share of the credit for progress to George Mitchell, chairman of the peace talks. (I loved the late Michael Kelly’s column declaring, in effect, ‘I was completely wrong in my pessimism and skepticism, Mitchell did a great job.’)