Blessed are the peacemakers

Sir — Tomorrow evening, December 10, former UK Prime Minister Sir John Major will be giving the inaugural Albert Reynolds Memorial Lecture in Longford.

In giving deserved plaudits to the leading political figures involved in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement (Eoghan Harris, Sunday Independent, December 2), the two leaders who, through the inclusive Downing Street Declaration of December 15, 1993, created the political conditions that helped bring about the IRA, then the loyalist, ceasefires in 1994 should also be gratefully remembered.

Without those ceasefires, and the restoration of the IRA one, when it broke down, no Good Friday Agreement could have been negotiated. I appreciate, of course, that your paper had, and perhaps still has, deep reservations about that phase of the peace process, which did indeed carry serious risks and dangers, but responsible perseverance by the two governments was vindicated.

On foot of the agreement, Chris Patten and his commission also did outstanding work on the reform of policing, which gave us the PSNI.

It is not right to restrict the praise just to men. Secretary of State, Mo Mowlam, played a vital role, above all, by her courageous decision against all advice to go in and meet the loyalist prisoners, which brought home to everyone the vital importance to any agreement of the early release of prisoners.

On the Irish side, Minister of State Liz O’Donnell played a proactive role in negotiations, and in making the PDs integral to the agreement.

The Women’s Coalition, along with the Alliance and the small loyalist parties, helped bridge the difference, and broaden the middle ground.

Brid Rodgers was part of the SDLP team, while Rita O’Hare of Sinn Fein did vital and largely unsung liaison work.

There were, of course, countless others in society at large who helped to make peace a reality. Martin Mansergh, Tipperary, Co Tipperary Eoghan Harris writes: As he modestly omits his own crucial contribution to the peace process, let me add Martin Mansergh, himself, to the roll of honour.