The British government did not have a 'master plan' when it came to the peace process, according to a leading republican negotiator.

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly 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 launches on Thursday.

Mr Kelly said after the first ceasefire in 1994, there was not a clear strategy in place to advance the peace process.

"The fact that there was a ceasefire was huge in people's mentality," he said.

"If you remember the scenes on the streets and all of that, and then obviously it was a depression.

"Moving move a out of conflict - or at least the idea that even moving of conflict was possible - because it had been going on for so long, I think opened up or empowered people.

"I don't want to sound like a psychologist, but certainly in a general sense it empowered people and it empowered us, certainly, to be able to sit down and talk about all aspects of it."

Gerry Kelly stands in front of the Bobby Sands mural in Belfast, Northern Ireland in February 2021. Picture by: horst friedrichs / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Kelly said something had changed with the approach to talks.

"I went into negotiations with the idea that these Brits have 2,000 years of experience - or whatever it might be - and ruled, as they claimed, quarter of the world or whatever it was," he said.

"What we found fairly quickly in the discussions was that the British didn't actually have a master plan.

"That the plan had been for many, many years a containment inertia.

"They had no imagination in trying to go for it. And that's what had changed.

"Individuals that we're talking about, right across John Hume to Gerry [Adams] to Martin [McGuinness], to yourself, to Bill Clinton and Tony Blair - I just think that's what created the atmosphere.

"That part of it came from the top - but there was an openness, a new openness, to talk things out I think," he added.

As I Remember It is a nine-part series that will launch on all streaming platforms this February 23rd. Three episodes will be released each week throughout the run - you can hear a sneak preview here:

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