"This book traces the genesis and evolution of the Irish Peace Process. It is the first book that has had access to all the relevant documentation, much of it not yet in the public domain. Thomas Hennessey argues that the Peace Process was the merging of two quite separate streams. First, there were inter-party talks which involved the British and Irish governments and the constitutional parties in Northern Ireland.

Second, there was the internationalist dialogue, initiated by John Hume, which gradually moved republicans away from violence towards the political arena. The Belfast agreement was a junction of these two processes, attempting a compromise between the centre of unionist and nationalist politics."--BOOK JACKET.