A lack of empathy between the two communities was the root of the problem in Northern Ireland, EU Ambassador to the US John Bruton said at the weekend. Nationalists and unionists ought to put themselves in the other person's place, "to actually try to feel as they feel, to fear as they fear, to understand as they understand, to see as they see".
"Unless you do those things, you are not going to be able to negotiate effectively, because the secret to a successful negotiation, as I see it, is finding a way of achieving what you want in a fashion that satisfies fully the worries of the person with whom you are doing business," said Mr Bruton.
The issue was complicated by violence. "At every stage in Irish history, in the 19th century, the 20th century and now in the 21st century, the use of violence in the cause of Ireland has been entirely futile and self-defeating. The difference between the Treaty and Home Rule did not justify the major losses of life that occurred," he said.
The former taoiseach was taking part in a panel discussion at the Park Avenue headquarters of the Mutual of America life insurance company to mark the New York launch of Britain and Ireland: Lives Entwined II, the second in a series of essays on contemporary British-Irish relations published by the British Council in Ireland. The event is believed to be the first of its kind to be co-hosted in this city by the British and Irish governments.
Former Northern Ireland secretary and current co-chairman of the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body, Paul Murphy MP, said there had been "enormously important improvements" in the relations between the two governments over the last 10 to 15 years.
"And you can't really put, as they say in my part of the world, a fag-packet between Bertie and Tony and how they've dealt with issues over the last number of years since the process started."