As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement

In this final episode, Bertie Ahern looks at how the agreement has served the people of Ireland over the past quarter of a century, analyses the challenges that have been posed by Brexit, and asks what the future holds for the generations to come. For more information, full interviews, and bonus material head to Newstalk.com/GoodFridayAgreement.

Throughout the peace process of the 1990s, US President Bill Clinton played a key role in steadying the nerves of the parties and helping to get the deal across the line. In this episode, Bertie Ahern reunites with President Clinton to hear why he became so invested in securing peace in Northern Ireland, the impact the bombing of Omagh had on him, and how the island of Ireland has set the standard globally for what a peace deal can achieve. For more information, full interviews, and bonus material head to Newstalk.com/GoodFridayAgreement.

Within months of the Good Friday Agreement, two significant days - in May and August 1998 - put the peace process to the test but ultimately demonstrated how far the people of Northern Ireland had come. In this episode, Bertie speaks to those who campaigned in the referendum that was held on 22nd May 1998, including Tony Blair, Dawn Purvis, and Monica McWilliams while Martin Mansergh explains the delicate planning behind the constitutional changes that were put to the people on the same day in the Republic. Just a few months later, the hard-fought-for peace was jeopardised when the biggest single atrocity in the history of the Troubles occurred in Omagh. Tony Blair, Liz O’Donnell, David Andrews, and Sean Farren share the shock they felt on that horrendous day and how the cruel bombing only served to increase their determination to move forwards. For more information, full interviews, and bonus material head to Newstalk.com/GoodFridayAgreement.

With little progress and many twists and turns along the way, the talks continued. Events were expedited, however, when the independent chair, Senator George Mitchell set a deadline of Easter for the conclusion of the talks. In this episode, Bertie Ahern recalls how the final few days leading up to the signing of The Good Friday Agreement unfolded. He recalls how he had to work through the night despite enduring his own personal tragedy on the final week, Unionist figures remember the last-minute walkouts and protests that attempted to derail the entire process and former US President Bill Clinton reveals why he intervened at the eleventh hour. For more information, full interviews, and bonus material head to Newstalk.com/GoodFridayAgreement.

In this episode, Bertie Ahern and those negotiating the peace deal for Northern Ireland share their memories of the tensions between unionists and Sinn Fein as the talks got underway, the misogyny experienced by the women in the process, the suspensions of some parties following a return to violence over Christmas 1997 and the game-changing interventions of Monica McWilliams and Northern Secretary Mo Mowlam when they decided to visit hardline loyalists in prison. For more information, full interviews, and bonus material head to Newstalk.com/GoodFridayAgreement.