Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has said that Belfast is “reinventing itself” after the end of decades of conflict.

The former US presidential candidate was speaking at the final day of the Global Innovation Summit 2024 at Queen’s University Belfast.

The conference will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, next October, which Ms Clinton said was a city that had also “risen again”.

We had an extraordinary conference here a year-and-a-half ago to celebrate the Good Friday Agreement, the end of conflict, a moving away from the past to look towards the future

“You’ve heard so much over the course of the last few days about Belfast, another city that is quickly reinventing itself and one of the main reasons, I would argue, is because of the end of conflict, which I was very – like so many of us – gratified to see,” she said in her afternoon address.

“We had an extraordinary conference here a year-and-a-half ago to celebrate the Good Friday Agreement, the end of conflict, a moving away from the past to look towards the future, the very strong relationship that this university, in particular, but others have with the business community, forging public-private partnerships.

“There is no path for innovation unless you support higher education. Higher education has to be viewed as a public good that businesses, governments, citizens understand.”

She said that she had seen some projects being carried out by young entrepreneurs in schools in Northern Ireland that afternoon, which focused on making new products using recycled clothes and 3D printing.

“Young children, between the ages of like 11 and 18 or 19, they’re being given a chance to learn about the entrepreneurial opportunities and that goes hand-in-hand with education, with skills acquisition in order to create a competitive economy. And of course, government has to play its role.”

Mrs Clinton also said it was “an honour” to be the chancellor of Queen’s University and said she could not express “how pleased I am to be here”, while a pro-Palestine demonstration was held outside to coincide with her visit.

Protesters chanted “shame”, carried Palestine flags and a cut-out of Mrs Clinton depicted with blood on her hands.

In a statement, Queen’s University said that while they respected the right to protest peacefully, it was “disappointed at the action of this small number of protesters and condemn their behaviour”.

“Today’s protest coincided with the final day of a three-day international conference, the Global Innovation Summit, which brought together political, industry and academic leaders to discuss pressing issues around economic inclusion and sustainability facing our world,” it said.

“The conference itself provided a platform for people to discuss and debate different views constructively on current global issues.

“Queen’s is committed to providing an open and safe space to have difficult conversations.

“Queen’s University has led the way in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East through calling for a ceasefire, providing scholarships for Palestinian students and divestment policies and has responded positively to the concerns of our university population where appropriate.”