The chair of the 1998 peace talks, former US senator George Mitchell, returned to Belfast this week to reflect on the political progress 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, writes BBCMarkSimpson
George Mitchell visited Belfast this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday AgreementIt is not easy to annoy Senator George Mitchell but he was irked by a question about the political stalemate in Northern Ireland 25 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Senator Mitchell has been lauded locally, nationally and internationally for his role in the negotiations.It is no exaggeration to say there was a row every week. As one of the few journalists who covered every day of the talks I went through a year's supply of notebooks in a month. They were Senator Mitchell's team behind the scenes. All Americans, they all gave up two years of their lives to live in Belfast and work with the talks' chair.They eventually moved out into rented accommodation, not for security reasons but to try to lead a more normal life.Martha Pope, a former sergeant-at-arms at the US Senate, was the main adviser.
"Each of us was well served by small but very able staffs. For me they included Martha Pope, David Pozorski, and Kelly Currie."
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