Hillary Clinton addresses invited members and attendees at Queens University Belfast on October 10, 2018 in Belfast | Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Hillary Clinton: Brexit could be ‘greatest self-inflicted wound in modern history’ Brexit was ‘a bad idea before the referendum and is an even worse idea now,’ Hillary Clinton tells Belfast audience,

The U.K.'s exit from the European Union "may well go down as one of the greatest and most unnecessary self-inflicted wounds in modern history," former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said during a trip to Belfast.

"I make no excuse for being against Brexit from the start," Clinton said during a visit to Northern Ireland late Wednesday, adding she "thought it was a bad idea before the referendum, and I think it is an even worse idea now."

Speaking to an audience at Queen’s University, where she received an honorary degree for her "considerable contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process," Clinton added: "Brexit seems to be going ahead one way or the other. It is crucial that however it comes out, Brexit should not be allowed to undermine the peace and prosperity that has been so dearly won here."

Clinton said she came to the region "as a friend who knows how hard the struggle has been." She and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, played a prominent role in persuading Northern Ireland to make the compromises that ultimately led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

With reference to the current Irish border impasse in the Brexit negotiations, Clinton said she thought the best sustainable solution was in protecting the Good Friday Agreement and additionally working with an interim executive to preserve its benefits, the Guardian reported.