As one of the most influential architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, Martin Mansergh was an unexpected figure. Resembling a rumpled academic and speaking with an English accent, he coordinated the Irish government’s engagement with the IRA for several decades.
Mansergh, who has died aged 78 of a heart attack during a trip to Western Sahara with other retired Irish parliamentarians, was educated at a British boarding school and Oxford University yet helped shape the Irish republican dimensions of the agreement.
