Bertie Ahern: ‘Funny’ to see DUP ‘try to convince people’ offices of FM and DfM different when McGuinness fought to make them equal

The former Taoiseach made the observation during a briefing of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr. Ahern told the committee that the St. Andrews Agreement was evidence that the Good Friday Agreement can be amended by agreement at any time.

“We can make changes to the agreement at any time. The reasons that we made changes at St. Andrews was because we were trying to get the DUP on board.

"I remember Martin McGuinness bending over backwards to try to help ensure that the positions of First Minister and deputy First Minister would be on an absolutely equal footing," he said.

During the course of his remarks the erstwhile Fianna Fáil leader alluded to Sinn Féin Vice-President Michelle O’Neill’s status as First Minister designate.

"It is funny to see the DUP now being so interested in trying to convince people that they are different, when the whole argument was to ensure that they were on an equal footing.

"At one stage, I had a list drawn up which set out all of the tasks of the First Minister and of the deputy First Minister. We tried to see if there was any distinction between the two, other than the title of the office.

"Perhaps we should not have used those titles,” he said.

Referring to the tortuous negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, Mr. Ahern, a key architect of the peace accord, said it was founded on compromise on all sides.

"The reality was that David Trimble made significant changes. Martin McGuinness, as chief negotiator at the time, made significant changes. It was give and take. The negotiations were tough. The only way you could do it was to talk and talk,” he said.

Mr. Ahern referred to the key role played by the late John Hume in guiding the peace process.

“Leadership was shown. It was shown by David Trimble and his colleagues in the UUP in working through the risks involved for unionism in agreeing a settlement.

"It was shown by John Hume, supported by Seamus Mallon and their terrific team at the SDLP, in fashioning many of the concepts that came to underpin the agreement.

"It was shown by Gerry Adams, Martin McGuiness and their colleagues in Sinn Féin, in acknowledging that the future had to be driven by exclusively peaceful, democratic means, and working tirelessly to promote that reality.

"It was also shown by the Alliance Party, PUP, UDP, Women’s Coalition and Northern Ireland Labour group, all of whom made critical contributions during the long months of negotiation leading to Good Friday 1998,” said Mr. Ahern.

John Hume, he said, summed up this spirit of compromise after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

"As John Hume remarked, in his Nobel lecture, ‘There will be no victory for either side,’” he told the committee.

Senior figures in Ireland and Britain praise Derry Girls for providing education on Good Friday Agreement