Bertie Ahern
The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Bertie Ahern is a seasoned political leader known for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process. This interview highlights his diplomatic approach to leadership, focusing on collaboration and understanding across divides to achieve lasting change.
“Yeah, I mean, I never brought that into it at all, and it just immediately, and not only the media, I suppose in public opinion, said, oh, this is a big grand plan. Now, I said that issue doesn't arise. It might arise in a few years' time, and then I'll have to answer the question with any interest or not.”
“Since Gordon Brown, and so somebody says, well, the institution's not up to it. Well, if you couldn't even get the people to the meetings, and by the way, I didn't expect a British Prime Minister to be torn up every month if we turned up once a year would have been enough, but not once a decade, and then an awful lot of.”
“Would ever happen? They came back and said, anytime it was ever raised, people said, what's that got to do with the referendum? Nobody said. And then all of a sudden, that's what created.”
“I think we had the political capital in the bank and both of us were prepared to put in the time and the effort. And on the basis that it mightn't work because when both of us were being told, I wonder is this thing impossible. Remember, the last agreement had been 1921 and that didn't go very well. So there was no precedent of success.”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 8: Bertie Ahern: The Troubles, peace, and the future of Ireland
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