STEWART WOOD,

WHEN Gordon Brown was Prime Minister from 2007–2010, I was privileged to be his Northern Ireland adviser.

On the whole it was a relatively quiet and stable period. Of course we had crises galore during our time at No10. But we had only one crisis over Northern Ireland.

In early 2010, the deadline for devolution of justice and policing powers to Belfast was due, but being held up by a bundle of disputes between the Unionist DUP & the Republican Sinn Fein.

After 72 hours we eventually got a deal, involving multiple compromises, careful drafting, a few calculated silences, and, of course, the promise of extra cash.

The DUP and Sinn Fein leaders are some of the best negotiators you will ever come across. For good reason.

Their combination of cunning and passionate commitment support an uneasy and messy kind of politics, but it is a politics that ensures Northern Ireland keeps going forward, rather than retreats into dangerous divisions.

Here’s the point: the deal would have been impossible if we in the UK Government had been thought to have interests beyond that of being an honest broker. Plain and simple. Impossible.

Now we face new, multiple