Albert Reynolds 1932-2014 : Reynolds' Northern legacy cements his place in history

As Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds employed skill, guile and guts to help bring the Peace Process into being, writes Martin Mansergh.

Peace of mind: Albert Reynolds with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume at Government Buildings on September 6, 1994. Picture: Derek Speirs

In his three eventful years as taoiseach, Albert Reynolds succeeded in making major inroads into a problem which had proved elusive to resolve since the foundation of the state, and which had been the source of recurring instability and latterly prolonged conflict.

The achievement of the IRA and loyalist ceasefires was the first stage in the Irish peace process, opening the way for the negotiation of a settlement, the Good Friday Agreement, and ...