David Trimble, Bill Clinton, Seamus Mallon and Tony Blair on the steps of parliament buildings

BILL Clinton privately told Tony Blair of his sympathy for David Trimble having to handle "all those crazies" in the UUP, new records from during the peace process show.

The remarks emerged in a newly published archive of telephone calls and meetings between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton that took place from 1997 to 2000.

Many of the discussions between the two leaders focus on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Mr Clinton promised to help Mr Blair with Northern Ireland, saying: "Oh god yes. This is the place in the world where there is the largest disconnect between the leaders and what the ordinary people want."

Gerry Adams is mentioned many times, with the pair sometimes frustrated by their dealings with the Sinn Féin leader.

"We've all taken our licks for Gerry," then US president Mr Clinton said during one exchange in May 1998.

Both appeared worried about the delays in IRA decommissioning. At one point Mr Clinton asked Mr Blair: "What's the date that Gerry does the actual decommissioning? When does the IRA actually have to turn some guns over?", and at another time: "Do you think the IRA has decided they are never going to decommission?"

He also questioned Mr Adams's relationship with the IRA, saying: "I don’t know what the real deal is between him and the IRA. It's hard to put pressure on him when you don't know what's going on. It's just bizarre."

Notably, the leaders often refer to "Gerry" and "Bertie" for the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, but Unionist leaders David Trimble and Ian Paisley are usually referred to by their surnames.

There was sympathy for some of then Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble's political difficulties. Mr Clinton referred to "all those crazies in his party" and asked then British Prime Minister Mr Blair: "Do you think there is anything we can do to Trimble to stroke him?"

The US president also frequently promised the prime minister that he would say and do whatever Mr Blair wanted him to.

The records from when the two men were in power were obtained by the BBC through a Freedom of Information request to the Clinton Presidential Library.

Many of Mr Blair's contributions have been redacted, but the rest of the transcripts provide a rare insight into the two former world leaders' close relationship.