There were many hands and a wide variety of influences in the events which resulted in the Belfast Agreement three years ago this weekend. Much has been written about the role played by heads of government such as Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, not to mention political leaders like John Hume, David Trimble, Gerry Adams and Seamus Mallon.
Little attention has been paid to the less obtrusive but still highly significant contribution of government officials on the British and Irish sides who gave generously of their time, energy and brainpower to get the deal through.
One of these was Dermot Gallagher, who this week was appointed secretary-general at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Along with other leading lights such as Paddy Teahon and Martin Mansergh in the Department of the Taoiseach, Tim Dalton at Justice, and Iveagh House colleagues such as our current Ambassador in Washington, Sean O hUiginn, he worked tirelessly over many years to help put the pieces in place for Good Friday 1998.
The peace process was and remains a collective undertaking, and it would be wrong to give the impression that the civil servants dreamt it up and made it a reality. The politicians, whether Hume, Adams, Albert Reynolds, Mo Mowlam, Ahern, Blair or Clinton, had to take the risks and provide the necessary leadership.
The civil servant is like a corner-forward waiting for the politician to pass him the ball so he can take a shot at goal: he or she cannot start the movement but can help to ensure that it reaches a successful conclusion.
Gallagher is a good corner-forward. Gaelic football is a popular game in some quarters of Iveagh House, and perhaps he applies some of the lessons he has learnt from following the fortunes of his native county, Leitrim, over the years. When he sees an opening he goes for it and he has a good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing team.
He joined the diplomatic service in 1969: his first ambassadorship was to Nigeria and he was also seconded to Brussels as a deputy chef de cabinet during Michael O'Kennedy's tenure on the European Commission. He was Ireland's envoy to Washington in the crucial years 1991-1997 before returning to Dublin to become the chief Iveagh House negotiator in the leadup to the Belfast Agreement.
Ability rather than hierarchical considerations was the primary factor as he created a talks team of talented young diplomats who worked night and day to get a result at Castle Buildings.
Friends describe his approach at the negotiating table when a difficult text was under discussion: (1) Have your homework done so that you can present a proposed version of the document for both sides to work on; (2) Always listen carefully to what the other side is telling you; (3) Research the subject thoroughly so that your team is better informed than anybody else; (4) Go for a constructive and forward-looking compromise rather than allout victory because everybody has to have something to bring back to their followers; (5) Be prepared to leaven the proceedings with an occasional outburst as a tactical move.
Gallagher's background and experience on the crucial Northern Ireland issue obviously helped to get him his new job. He also has a better understanding than most civil servants of how politicians think and see the world. He gets on extremely well with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, and this formidable pair can be expected to make a significant joint impact on the Department in a very short time.
They have already worked closely together on Northern Ireland, and this will continue, but there are many other issues in the pot as well. European matters are a major element of the secretary-general's job, for example. The spat between the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, and the European Commission, and Tanaiste Mary Harney's comment that Ireland was spiritually closer to Boston than Berlin, made for bruised feelings in Brussels, and Gallagher will be expected to apply his famed emollient skills to repair the damage.
Greater co-ordination of EU policy is required, especially with an enlarged Europe looming and Ireland about to become a net contributor rather than beneficiary: the begging bowl is now the flowing bowl. Ireland has another stint in the Presidency in 2004, and the new sec. gen. will have to prepare for that.
It is not always appreciated back home how membership of the UN Security Council for a two-year term has put Ireland at the heart of international affairs with the ability to play a modest but constructive role in helping to ease some highly-inflamed disputes.
The Irish soldier or garda uttering soothing words on the peaceline in the Middle East or Cyprus is paralleled now by the dapper diplomat endeavouring to find a middle way between the imperatives of the big powers and the declamations of deprived nations and communities.
One suspects Gallagher, an old UN hand, will enjoy this aspect of the job: he likes making tough decisions which are an essential part of becoming a grown-up member of the international community.
Though greeted with a certain amount of scepticism, the Taoiseach's announcement of a gradual but substantial increase in assistance to the less-developed world will be difficult to renege on, and Ireland is on its way to becoming a comparatively generous contributor of development aid, especially in Africa. Gallagher will have a special responsibility to manage and monitor this in co-operation with the Minister of State, Liz O'Donnell.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is undergoing a far-reaching process of reorganisation and restructuring, a plan for which will be presented to Government in due course. Gallagher will have to shepherd this to its conclusion and ensure that whatever emerges is acceptable and capable of rapid implementation.
After many years labouring at the coalface, Gallagher has at last been put in charge of the entire colliery. He will be an affable if demanding boss and a skilled negotiator who may not be able to satisfy everybody but is unlikely to leave them feeling bitter and resentful. Critics say that, if anything, he tries too hard to please too many people, and they would prefer him to be more blunt and direct at times.
His tenure at Iveagh House should be lively: he knows the place inside out, and those he considers able, dedicated and hardworking may not have to wait long for preferment. Dermot Anthony Gallagher, or Dag as he is known among the underlings, will bring a touch of soft Leitrim rain to the arid soil of statesmanship.
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