Not one leader in any party involved in the peace process wished to change the direction of progress in which they were heading, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said yesterday.
Speaking in Cork, where she addressed a conference on peace and reconciliation, Dr Mowlam said that a year ago it had been put to her that to get all the parties sitting around the same table and engaging in dialogue would be an almost impossible task.
"Well, they did sit around the table. They did talk, and they did produce the Good Friday agreement," she said. The President, Mrs McAleese, also addressed the conference, which was organised by the National Edmund Rice Committee, formed in 1994 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Edmund Rice, who founded the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers. It was the second national youth conference held by the committee - the first was in 1996 - and was attended by students of Christian Brothers' and Presentation Brothers' secondary schools throughout the State.
Mr Colin Parry, who lost his 12-year-old son, Tim, in an IRA bombing in Warrington in 1993, spoke for almost an hour to the 160 delegates. He said he had a great love of Ireland, and was intent on opening a £1 million peace centre in Warrington.