Without Mark Durkan the history of Northern Ireland and the story of the peace process would have been very different. He had a central role in helping to craft the Belfast Agreement and was a key player as Northern Ireland moved from conflict into peace.
Durkan was John Hume’s confidant and would follow him as Foyle MP and later SDLP leader. He would serve as finance minister in the Northern Ireland Executive and later as deputy first minister. Graham Spencer’s interviews help us track the history of the past four decades, and his recorded encounters with Durkan give us a ringside view of Northern Ireland’s key moments.
Spencer’s book is broken down into eight sections and begins with an examination of Durkan’s background and his early days in the SDLP. Chapter two examines his relationship with Hume while chapter three is taken up by the confidential meetings that formed the early part of the peace process. Other chapters look at how the Belfast Agreement came about, the rise of the DUP and Sinn Féin and there is a series of questions about unionism.
The transcripts show Durkan’s sharp mind in full flow and reveal how he put social justice and fairness at the heart of his politics. The interviews reveal his photographic memory of people and places and we are often treated to the infamous Durkan one-liners.
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The book is at its most interesting when Durkan is quizzed about John Hume and when he examines what Hume was trying to achieve. Durkan is a good storyteller and I hope this book encourages him to write his own account of his life.
To be picky, Spencer might have ended each chapter with a summary, and to test and interrogate some of Durkan’s key quotes. An index would also have been beneficial. Those criticisms aside, this book will add to our understanding of Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
Stephen Walker is the author of John Hume: The Persuader (Gill Books)
