How the Peace Was Won

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In Northern Ireland, former adversaries are now sharing power, with Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson leading a devolved administration alongside IRA hawk Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister. This remarkable political transformation raises questions about how such a deal was achieved and how war turned into peace. Award-winning journalist Brian Rowan takes readers behind the scenes, examining the path from the Stormontgate spying scandal to the establishment of the Executive. His analysis of the Stormontgate affair challenges the notion that it was merely a plot by securocrats. Rowan traces the origins of the Peace Process back to the Hume-Adams talks of the late 1980s, focusing primarily on the last five years. He provides insights into the negotiations, speaking with key figures involved in the endgame and drawing on his extensive reporting experience. The book delves into the complexities of reporting on a conflict while living through it, exploring how Adams and McGuinness shifted the dynamics and what prompted Paisley to agree to the deal. It also addresses how Northern Ireland confronts its past. In this work, the most challenging questions are posed and answered. Brian Rowan, a former BBC Security Editor in Belfast, has received multiple awards for his journalism and is now a freelance writer and broadcaster, contributing regularly to the Belfast Telegraph. This is his fourth book on the peace process.