Former US President Bill Clinton has appealed to Northern Ireland leaders to 'hold it together.'

Mr Clinton was speaking to Newstalk's latest podcast, As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement as the 25th anniversary of the accord approaches.

He is just one of the key players to speak to the former Taoiseach for the historic podcast, which is out now.

Mr Clinton said credit for the deal goes to the leaders directly involved in the discussions.

"If you look at the Irish problem in the context of what else has happened in the world in the last 20 years, you might think it's a miracle that the peace agreement has held at all," he said.

"I love it when people give me some credit for it but the truth is I think the ultimate credit goes to the leaders like you and Tony [Blair] and the people who came before you - and to the people who just decided they needed to stop killing each other.

"I think the main thing the peace process has got going for it today - even though we still don't have local government again, and we should - is that nobody wants to go back to what it was like, no one wants to run the risk.

"That is a very good thing".

Then-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern shakes hands with former US President Bill Clinton during a visit to Government Buildings, Dublin in May 2001. Picture by: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

"There were many wonderful things about being president, but one of the greatest was the opportunity to play a role in this," Mr Clinton recalled.

"I love Ireland and I believe you had a bigger impact on the rest of the world, even than you know, by doing the right thing.

"So let's just figure out how to hold it together and go on".

He also recalled his controversial decision to issue Gerry Adams with a visa to visit the United States in 1994.

"I promised when I ran for President that I would appoint a Special Envoy, and that I would seriously consider a visa for Gerry Adams," he said.

"Most people thought it was just politics in the Irish community in New York - but it was more than that.

"I realised that the size of the American diaspora, and the level of investment we had in the North were so significant, that we might be able to really make a difference.

"I was convinced that we had to do something like that to try to rope Sinn Féin in.

"If they weren't really for some sort of agreement, we were never going to get it," he added.

As I Remember It

As I Remember It is a nine-part series that is now available on all streaming platforms.

Three episodes will be released each week throughout the run.

For bonus content including interviews, videos, an interactive timeline of the peace process and a full glossary of the key players head to newstalk.com/goodfridayagreement.

You can hear Episode One here: