THE intransigence of Northern Ireland politicians in refusing to come together in one room at the recent Cape Town peace conference baffled South African negotiators, according to one of the organisers.
Dr Padraig O'Malley, of the University of Massachusetts, said the South African hosts were "almost mesmerised by the behaviour of the Northern Irish politicians, by the fear on the part of some of even occupying the same physical space as others".
Dr O'Malley, in Belfast to address a seminar on sectarianism organised by the Irish School of Ecumenics, said one of South Africa's chief negotiators, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, was confident before the talks that he would have all the Northern politicians in one room within 48 hours.
"But when Cyril Ramaphosa came out, he said: `And we thought we had problems. Even during the most difficult times of our negotiations, at the end of the day we could go into a bar and have a drink together.' He just couldn't understand it," said Dr O'Malley.
The conference on conflict resolution, held at a nature reserve north of Cape Town two weeks ago, aimed to allow South African negotiators to share their experiences with Northern Ireland politicians.
A delegation was sent from each Northern Ireland political party but a refusal by the mainstream unionist parties to be in the same room as Sinn Fein members meant separate accommodation wings, separate bar and dining facilities and separate briefing rooms.
"Even President Mandela had, in fact, to practise apartheid himself. He agreed to speak to the two separate groups from Northern Ireland, some of whom, in their paranoia of being perceived to be in the presence of the others, would not come together even for the most eminent statesman in the world," Dr O'Malley said.
However, he stressed that President Nelson Mandela had been happy to meet the two groups separately because he understood unionists had agreed to attend on those conditions and felt their demands had to be respected.
"What President Mandela said to both groups was that you do not negotiate with your friend, you negotiate with your enemy. And you negotiate when you understand that you are not totally in the right and the other one is not totally in the wrong."