Dr Mo Mowlam, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from May 1997 to October 1999, has urged paramilitaries on both sides to engage in a further round of disarmament and decommissioning.
Speaking at the Waterford Chamber of Commerce annual dinner at the weekend, Dr Mowlam agreed that it is a "difficult time" in the peace process but expressed optimism that a breakthrough in the current impasse can be found.
"The paramilitaries must do something more. I know they have done quite a bit but they have got to do more than they have on the decommissioning front. Now they don't respond well if you tell them that, so I am suggesting that would be most helpful."
Citing the so-called punishment attack during which Mr Harry McCartan (23) was impaled on a fence in the loyalist Seymour Hill estate on the outskirts of Belfast, the alleged links between Sinn Féin and the FARC guerrilla movement in Colombia and claims that a spying network was operating at Stormont, Dr Mowlam said there was no doubt that "it is a difficult time and people have to step over hurdles and start making progress.
"I don't think the process will collapse because the people in Northern Ireland still want it and when the people want it and are confident and believe in it, I don't think any political party is going to pull the plug because it would end their political future pretty damn quickly."
Asked what advice she would offer the current Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, Dr Mowlam said he doesn't need advice.
"He worked with me the whole time I was there. I am very confident in his ability. He is very good, very trustworthy and has a lot of skill and ability, I just say to him to keep on trucking and he will."
Considering what lessons might be applied from the Northern peace process to the situation in the Middle East, Dr Mowlam said that apparently similar situations are rarely as alike as they seem. "People keep asking me about Israel and Palestine and can they learn lessons from the North and the short answer is not many."
