I thought, this is not a conflict that has got any place in the new millennium. If you want to solve it, you have to take that risk and talk to those who actually control the violence. Enemies compromised and differences were settled. This is a story ofjeopardy, dilemmas and leadership. Tony blair |think| theres a hope that ifeel the hand of history upon our shoulders. Kerrie and erin had never met before. If they had been from a previous generation, they probably wouldnt have met at all. But they were born on the day of a peace deal. We are very lucky that we grew up where we did after the Good Friday Agreement. Lived a very happy life so far, always enjoyed all my classes, loads of opportunities. They are in the newest cinema in Northern Ireland in a Shopping Centre in belfast, which was bombed five times in as many years. They are reflecting on scenes of bloodshed which they have never known. Very different than what i would have grown up in, two different worlds. Even hearing places like castle court, shankill road, places in belfast i would know and have been in the past 25 years of my life, that looks so different than what they do now. Its utterly heartbreaking. I think its really, really hard to watch. You just cant imagine thats what it used to be like. The conflict known as the troubles was complex, but it was basically about whether Northern Ireland should remain in the uk or be part of the republic of ireland. Around 3,500 people were killed over almost three decades, until the Good Friday Agreement. Im very happy growing up in Northern Ireland. Theres nothing i think that would really put me off staying here and having a family, compared to what it was, i think its a great place to live. Having hope in my middle name, i think when everyone gets to the 10th Of April every year, it comes up, that s what it gave people, hope, every time, that life would be different. And it was, for us. The violence was rising, and so i thought, this. Is doomed to failure if we continue in this way. There were many years when hope was hard to come by. But some leaders did have ideas for a peaceful process. This man was one of them. John hume, from the social democratic and labor party, or sdlp, who were irish nationalists. I honestly think Thatjohn Hume had the courage of a lion to keep going. He had a vision. The key issue was reconciliation between the communities, who were deeply divided, and peace and non violence. The most lethal Paramilitary Group was the irish republican army, which wanted to bring about a United Ireland. In the late 1980s, john hume began initially secret talks with the iras political wing, sinn fein. Probably the big breakthrough was Whenjohn Hume agreed to meet. One of the things that was crucially important was the right to self determination, that the people of the island would have the right to decide the future. The ira called a ceasefire in 1994. There was then a similar move by militants on the other side of the conflict, who were known as Loyalist Paramilitaries. The british and irish governments opened Peace Negotiations with the Northern Ireland parties. The chair was the former Us Senate Majority leader, George Mitchell. I confess, i was not prepared for the way the talks developed. It was very controversial. I have a pass, i have a pass there was a lot of insults, a lot of shouting, there were dramatic walkouts. I was determined from the beginning to act as fairly, as impartially and calmly as i could. Sinn fein had been barred from the talks because the ira hadnt given up any weapons and had broken its ceasefire. In 1997 new Prime Minister came to power in britain. I thought, here we are, weve been decades in this conflict. Were approaching the 21st century. Its this is not a conflict that has got any place in the new millennium. The good friday or belfast agreement became possible because there was a new mood and sentiment, because people recognised there was no way the british were going to be able to extinguish republicanism, nor was there any way in which the Republican Movement was going to bomb the british out of Northern Ireland. And so people realised that in the end, we could carry on exhausting ourselves with violence, or we could reach for peace. A month after tony blair was elected, bertie ahern took over as leader of the irish government, called the taoiseach. The pair became a Peace Process double act, and they had help from the most powerful man on the planet. There is no better politician, just as a professional politician, in the world than bill clinton. And that was invaluable through this. Because it meant that you had the power of the United States behind you, but notjust in itself, but operating with immense sophistication and subtlety. Following the change of leadership in london and dublin, the ira restored it ceasefire. Sinn fein was allowed to go into the negotiations. For the governments, this wasnt comfortable, but they believed it was crucial. You have to talk to the extremes. You can be blue in the face talking to people who are not involved in violence, but will that Stop Violence . Its not easy for democratic governments and legitimate, sovereign governments to say, we have to go out and talk to people who are involved in treacherous deeds, and military deeds. But if you want to solve it, you have to take that risk and talk to those who actually control the violence. The entry into the talks of the Party Associated with the ira was unacceptable for some politicians, particularly those whose aim was to preserve Northern Irelands union with britain. The Democratic Unionist Party walked out. It was led by the reverend ian paisley, a protestant preacher who was viewed by many as the embodiment of intransigence. Its stained with blood its surrender they want nobody should be allowed to enter the talks until there had been my father wouldve used the word repentance from terrorism. But the setting aside of the weapons, and making sure that people were there all on the same basis, otherwise it would look as if violence paid. But most unionists stayed in the negotiations. For the first time, the parties linked to Loyalist Paramilitaries were talking face to face with republican militants. As far as i was concerned, they were the enemy. But i also recognise that we were trying to get their goal. I used to see people from other parties, talking to people, and saying to them afterwards, do you not know who they are . These are some of the most wanted people in europe, and you dont even know youre talking to. The ulster unionist party, led by David Trimble, was the largest unionist group, and took the risk of remaining. If you had come to the conclusion that the only way you could defend your interests was to physically be at the table and negotiate them, that meant swallowing a lot of very difficult things, including the fact that we had people in that building whom we knew had significant terrorist involvement, but they would not have been in that building had they been winning the fight on the ground. During those momentous days, the Peace Process was a big topic at my old school. We discussed it in class and debated it and the Current Affairs society. The year of 1997 98 was a year of expectancy and tension in Northern Ireland politics, with parties working around the clock to try and reach an agreement by the may deadline. The Current Affairs team consisted of chairperson simon mcavoy, committee members, gail mcconnell, and secretary victoria dunaden. It felt like such an exciting time because what we were studying in the classroom wasnt in a textbook. We all remember very well. When president clinton came to belfast and not just i because we got a Day Off School for that. It is. Honestly one of the most incredible things ive really participated in. It seemed to me like the whole of Northern Ireland had shown up. We got there quite early in the day so we were right down the front. You know, my dad was always really keen for these things so we were there with the lunch and everything else, we waited for hours. Then when he finally showed up, i mean, it is as close to as sort of a god arriving on earth that i think i have ever experienced. He was just as incredible, Charismatic Guy Butjust held an audience of whatever it was, half a Million People or something, just held them in the palm of his hand. That word, hope, it felt like there was hope. Gill, you have written a couple of critically acclaimed volumes of poetry, one of which i have given you, the sun is open, it focuses on very personal experiences in your life that you did speak about. My own personal history was that my father was a Prison Governor in the maze prison, and he was shot and killed by the ira outside our home in 1984 when i was three and a half. And so for me i felt like i really wanted to try to understand the kind of. The very long history, the long colonial history and immediate political history that had created the context for my fathers murder and for everything that followed. I remember you when sinn fein came, you were sitting right up from the front. I remember you sitting there. I dont think you spoke, you just listened but i do remember you. I was conscious of you in the room. I do remember you sitting there and listening to them, very intently. And people dont tend to sit at the front of those meetings which i think is why and in a way you stood out, but i was aware of your story in that sense. Ill read something from this which speaks to the moment of my fathers murder i supposed but also tries to reckon with an aftermath, and its sort of an aftermath thats endless, really. My father rejoices. Thats what it means. My name, i mean, but, did he . What, if anything was the source of his joy . Was there joy between us . Before she left, or after he walks through the hall, the squeaky door saddle, across the tiles, walking outside into the morning, into those bullets, sailing through the blue air, into perforation, into a heap, into gravel, and almost human shape, into death, into silence or whatever comes after. The sombre difference between failure and success became more realfor the negotiators in the spring of 1998. The violence was rising, there was a period of escalatory and retaliatory violence, and so i thought, this is doomed to failure if we continue in this way, and so i developed a plan for an intense final two week period and a hard deadline, and the parties and the governments all agreed to it and thats when i felt the first sense of hope. He set a cut off date of thursday 9 april, but withjust over 48 hours to go, a deal was almost inconceivable. Reporter the main stories on newsline this tuesday evening the Prime Minister arrives at hillsborough as talks hit crisis point. I mean, i was determined to come but there was no doubt it was a Political Risk because most people said, look, this is hopeless, all you will do is end up as with egg on your face, so dont go. A lot of people said that. The Prime Minister delivered a memorable message when he arrived. A day like today, it isnt a day for soundbites, really. You can leave those at home. I feel the hand of history upon our shoulder, respectively, i really do. But the parties were deadlocked. The Sticking Point was about Government Agencies which would operate across Northern Ireland and the irish republic. While enduring extreme political pressure, bertie ahern was also dealing with personal pain. My mam had died on the sunday but i remember on the tuesday evening, George Mitchell contacted me and said, listen, no, this isnt working, its not flying. We came the conclusion that the whole thing could break down if i didnt go up on wednesday morning. Had he not come back, in my view, we were finished. I think he understood the whole point of a deal, that people had to be able to go back to their respective supporters after the deal was done and defend it. My mams funeral was at 12 or so, so the view was i needed to go up and meet tony blair at the crack of dawn, and then go and meet the parties. Thats what i did. I went up on that, and then back down, and back up again straight after the funeral. But that got things back on track. In the negotiations on the stormont estate, nerves were fought and sleep was scant. Pressure cooker is a pretty good description, it was pretty tense. People were very nervous. There was a lot of running between the different floors, and also along the corridors, because that is where a lot of the negotiations were happening. I think the coldness was a good thing because if it had been very warm in that building, everyone wouldve been out for the count. On thursday night ian paisley wanted his say. Weve got here, i add, that you get up here as far as inaudible. Weve done that. I remember storming the gates. I know the person who cut the chain. I saw what happened, it happened right in front of our eyes, and pushing the gates open and onto the estate, and marching up that hill. That mile became very short, powering away up the hill. I was inside and i was watching the news, and it was sean paisley so everybody. Pilled into the coffee lounge, the top floor, to look out. I remember a pile of pp members racing out and they started to heckle him. Ian, where are you going to take us . indistinct yelling. Ian well, | wish i you would walk out while some divisions were deepening others were disappearing. There was a deal on the issue of the new regional parliament, a power sharing assembly. There is a famous picture that was captured of you embracing a party colleague. That was when Seamus Mallon came down from the rooms where we were negotiating and told us they had made a breakthrough on the Assembly Situation and trimble had agreed to it. We were so relieved. I mean, i threw my arms around him and i said, i cant believe it because that had been a very tough negotiation. The deadline passed as good friday dawned. President clinton phoned the parties to press for a deal, but the ulster unionists wouldnt agree without further commitments that paramilitaries would disarm, so tony blair wrote a letter to David Trimble. I thought maybe we had lost it but then i gave the additional commitment to the unionists. This is where David Trimble did exercise real leadership. He sold that commitment to his delegation. David came into the room and there was a lot of tension. He stood up on a chair or a table and he said that it was his intention to go up the stairs to George Mitchell to tell him he was going to accept the agreement. A few minutes before five oclock in the afternoon, i david called me in, and yes. I remember his exact words, he said, were ready to do the business. I i thanked him. I asked him if he could be available for a meeting i immediately at 5pm, he said, i will be there. I called the other parties. It seems like ages, you know, just wondering who was going to come through the door. Had a great sigh of relief when we saw sinn fein and then david come in. Im not sure if that was exactly the way it was but they were the last two big ones to come in and we thought, yes this has happened. The two governments and the Political Parties of Northern Ireland have reached agreement. Applause. This was one of those very few moments in politics where it was a moment of pretty much unalloyed joy. There werent many of those, i can tell you. I had made a point of saying to the women, we better hold back the tears, because they would say, every old woman started crying, but actually as a push back my chair the men were crying. However, for unionists the mood was different. We didnt have a sense of euphoria at all. It was all very well sitting around there and clapping but we knew we had to go out of that room into the real world outside, where people were hurting and angry, and persuade them to support us. I remember seeing a copy of the ulster unionist piece, and a Pencilled Down in the margins, was a notation of each significant line, unionists loss, unionist loss, another loss here, prisoner releases, ultimately changed the royal ulster constabulary. The fact that balance was paid achieved some of these things. I am confident that we will go out of here. I sinn fein viewed that the previous Peace Agreements had generated bloodsoaked splits among republicans, so the Party Leaders didnt support the deal immediately. They sold it to their members, focusing on the potential for a public vote on a United Ireland in the future. We were at pains to keep republicans empowered, that it wasnt just an elite, theres the party as a whole, the movement, the broad Republican Movement. The agreement received rockstar backing. U2, the biggest irish band ever, put on a Campaign Concert as people were deciding how to vote on the deal. One of the things i remember was being slightly frustrated by members of the class who i deemed to be more politically conservative than me, and kind of feeling like the stakes for me feel higher. Like, one of my father murderers is going to get out on good friday and did get out on the Good Friday Agreement and i would have voted, if i had have, in favour of it. The agreement was endorsed in the referendum. David trimble and john hume won the nobel peace prize. But, at home, they were politically punished for the compromises. The absence of paramilitary disarmament destabilised power sharing. Voters turn to the dup and sinn fein, which became the largest parties. There were several more years of negotiations. Paramilitaries eventually did give up their weapons. In 2007, ian paisley agreed to lead the Regional Government jointly with a former ira commander, martin mcguinness. Ir the real extremes of Northern Ireland into government together. That day was a very special day in our household but also very special day for Northern Ireland because they really did see a miracle, quite frankly. My main feeling as we were coming down the stairs was, i cant believe this is happening. Martin mcguinness said to me. One time he never thought hed see the day when. Hed kneel down every night when he wasnt well and hed be saying his prayers that hed be ok. | it did show that we had really travelled. Its notable that so many people involved in the story are no longer here ian paisley, martin mcguinness, john hume, David Trimble. The piece isnt perfect, power sharing at stormont has frequently been prone to collapse and, in recent years, it has often been absent. But, political balance is now extremely rare and that is the achievement the agreement generation is passing on. The legacy is that we got peace and we stopped the killing. You had leaders that were prepared even at personal, Political Risk to face down inaudible. , and move forward. And, you know, that is why it is a lesson for Peace Processes everywhere. Were going to play you a video of two people who were born on 10 april 1998. Im interested to hear what you make of what they have to say about the Northern Ireland they have grown up in. Yeah, i am very grateful that leaders in their fields came to Northern Ireland to positively drive forward the change and, you know, bring together both sides of the equation to form an agreement. I think they are fantastic, they are role models. Ithink. Ijust hope coming up to the 25 Year Anniversary that things can start moving forward again with the politics. Were at a bit of a standstill at the minute. It would be a shame to see all the hard work be undone. To see these two young people serves as kind of a book and for me because on the saturday after the Good Friday Agreement, as i left, there were two elderly women and they said to me, thanks to you, our grandchildren will live in peace, which wed never had. It has a lot of meaning to me. I love the people and the place of Northern Ireland, and i pray that they will continue in peace. Hello. Compared to the week gone, the week ahead looks different weather wise and that therell be more rain around. Rain totals totting up right across the country as this chart shows. But where we see the green colours appear, the hills of wales, parts of scotland, we could see 60 80mm of rain before the week is out. Notjust wet, its going to be windy at times. Some of the windiest conditions will be through tuesday and into wednesday around some of these western areas. Gusts of wind maybe up to 60mph. Bearthat in mind, if youve got any of this week under canvas or if youre on the move. Now, the change to the more unsettled and changeable conditions has already started, this Weather Front pushing eastwards overnight into the morning, bringing outbreaks of rain for all. Through the morning, some of the wettest conditions will be across the south and east of the uk. Quite abundant rain to begin with, but dont write your day off, sunshine will come out. Therell be a scattering of showers across the country through the day, showers most frequent through the afternoon, Northern England and Northern Ireland, as well as the highlands of scotland. Winds going into a more westerly direction through into the afternoon, gusty in the south, it will make it feel a bit cooler for some of you compared with today, but for the likes of east of scotland, itll actually feel a bit warmer with a bit more sunshine. Now, as we go into tuesday morning, well see showers gradually fade away overnight, and it will be a chilly start to tuesday. 0nly1 2 showers continuing, and well get used to some colder nights through this week at times. But actually, a reasonably pleasant day for some on tuesday. To the north and east of the country, save just 1 2 isolated showers, a lot of dry weather, some will stay dry throughout the day. To the south and the west, though, make the most of the Morning Brightness because the afternoon turning cloudier, wetter, and also windier, gales in the southwest before the day is out. Temperatures again dropping just a little bit. And that brings us into our windiest spell of weather this week, tuesday night into wednesday, deepening area of low pressure pushing across, a pretty wet night through the uk to take us through tuesday night into wednesday. The Rain Persisting In Parts Of Northeast Scotland with some snow over the mountains as we go through wednesday. But south of that, well see a mixture of sunshine, heavy thundery showers with hail mixed in, as well. A little bit of brightness here and there. But its going to be a windy day across the board with winds touching 50 60mph as i said, in the south. And that will make it feel distinctly cool. Those windy conditions will last as we go through wednesday night and into thursday. That low pressure gradually pulls away, but another wet and windy low hits the south on friday. Take care. Live from washington, this is bbc news us officials are struggling to identify who leaked documents including details of ukraines air defences. President macron weighs in on the escalating tensions between china and the us. And delegations from saudi arabia and 0man are in yemen for talks with Houthi Rebels amid hopes of a ceasefire after eight years of war. Hello, im helena humphrey, good to have you with us. We start here in the us where Thejustice Department is investigating the leaking of dozens of leaked