Is the Good Friday agreement doomed?
John Reid: The death knell of the agreement being rung out on so many occasions even in the two years I have been there that I would be wary of saying that, but I won’t hide from you that it faces grave difficulties because of the deadline imposed by the Ulster Unionists. But the task is to continually build trust and you can’t do that by just blaming one side. Nationalists do not believe that the Unionists are genuinely willing to share power and nationalists do not believe that republicans are genuinely willing to give up violence. So we have to make progress on both sides. I will continue to do everything I can, as I have done in the previous few crises, to convince everyone involved is that the only alternative is the Good Friday agreement. One of the things that encouraged me to do that – apart from my own belief that this is a hugely beneficial process – is when I speak to the people of Northern Ireland. All of them recognise the benefits they’ve had. JG: But surely most people i
