Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

Owing to various events, many people disregard Ray Burke's contribution after his brief appointment to the position of Minister for Foreign Affairs at a critical time early in the process. He was popular with many Unionists. A certain amount of camaraderie, trust and friendship between negotiating parties makes dealing with difficult issues easier.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the former Taoiseach, Mr. Albert Reynolds. When he became Taoiseach, he said his two priorities were solving the unemployment problem and tackling the situation in Northern Ireland. Some of my colleagues asked me whether he had run the lost of himself because they felt the two problems were intractable. As the problems had been with us for decades and it was felt they would continue, not many people gave Mr. Reynolds any hope of success. As a man with great entrepreneurial flair, he was equipped with the courage to identify these two issues as priorities and deal with them pragmatically.

I would like to mention many other people, not least Mr. Gerry Adams and Mr. Martin McGuinness who have played an important part. We should not overlook the role of Mr. John Hume who received a great deal of criticism for interacting with Sinn Féin at one time. When one considers how much easier it is for one to lead a party that fully supports the process one is pursuing, it is clear that Mr. David Trimble showed remarkable leadership when he was in the difficult position of having to look over his shoulder to check the level of opposition within his ranks. I hope Dr. Paisley will join the select band of people who have played a pivotal part in this process. All the indications are that he will.

It is important not to forget the initiative taken in 1965 by the then Taoiseach, Mr. Seán Lemass, when he travelled to the North with Mr. Jack Lynch and others to meet Mr. Terence O'Neill. If that process had been allowed to continue and develop, we might have avoided the trauma of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when 3,700 people died during the Troubles. It was not allowed to continue, unfortunately, so we do not know what would have happened. Given that we now have a second chance, it is important for all politicians to embrace their responsibilities.

I have never viewed the success of the peace process as the ultimate prize. Making progress with the peace process is like winning the national hurling league. We need to focus on the real prize of winning the all-Ireland. Anyone who follows a football or hurling team understands this point. If the Down team had lost the all-Ireland football final many years ago, I do not think it would have been any compensation to its players to have won the national football league. It is important to keep the bigger aim in mind. Those of us with a Nationalist or republican outlook are often too shy to say that to our fellow Irishmen from the Unionist tradition.

It is possible to have quite good dialogue with loyalists. I once had an interesting discussion with Mr. Gregory Campbell and one of his DUP colleagues, Mr. John Norris from Castlereagh. We talked for up to three hours over a few pints in Glasgow. I did not hide the fact that I would love to see a united Ireland. I argued that the pragmatism and dynamism of Unionist business people could help people on both sides of the Border. I suggested that the talents, expertise and drive of everyone on this island could be combined to open up new horizons for all our people. I was not surprised when the two men told me at the end of the night that they did not agree with much of what I had said. However, they said they learned far more about these issues from talking to me for a few hours than they would have from talking to someone from Kent or Sussex.

I was at a conference in Malmo in 1988 on the day that Ireland had a famous 1-0 victory over England in a football match in Stuttgart. I was a little late in returning to the conference that evening because I had been watching the match. When I heard Northern accents, I turned around to find that a delegation from Belfast City Council was sitting behind the Wexford group of which I was part. As we filed out of the meeting, I asked Sammy Wilson whether he had watched the match. When he said he had seen it, I somewhat cheekily asked who he had shouted for. He said: "I was shouting for your lads." I may have looked surprised, but I was also pleased.