Now the former Irish government adviser speaks to Seamus McKinney about the future of politics in Ireland, issuing a word of warning to both unionists and nationalists
Martin Mansergh is regularly portrayed as having provided the intellectual muscle behind Dublin's role in the peace process but like any politician he can never stray too far from grass roots matters.
The 60-year-old may have come to Donegal to address the prestigious Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties but his latest jaunt north had a dual purpose.
After he had finished talking politics with The Irish News, he was off to Ballybofey to collect a TV he won in a Fianna Fail prize draw.
Dr Mansergh, now a Fianna Fail member of the Irish Senate, was an adviser on Northern Ireland to three Fianna Fail leaders (and taoisigh).
At a time of political uncertainty and even stagnation he believes the risk of unionism losing its influence if devolution is not restored, is one of the key reasons for optimism that a deal will be struck on the restoration of power-sharing government.
While adamantly defensive of his Irishness, Dr Mansergh accepts the Anglo-Irish background of his family gives him a special insight into the workings of the northern state.
But what does the future hold for the union of Northern Ireland with Britain?
"I think the issue is, is the union the best option for the people of Northern Ireland?
"I think already in many respects it is the second class option both for political and economic reasons.
"Politically – and this is something I think the DUP need to bear in mind when they are deciding in the autumn whether or not they will allow the devolved institutions to work – it is still an old question: 'Is Northern Ireland a workable entity'?"
Dr Mansergh, who now no longer works as an advisor to the taoiseach but is a full-time senator, was in Co Donegal to address the issue of 1916 and its relevance to modern Ireland.
He believes Northern Ireland will "lose ground" on every level if it fails to accept devolution and the cross border bodies come the autumn.
"Nowadays the Union doesn't guarantee any dominance.
"In fact, I would argue the opposite. The Union guarantees a second class position and I'm not talking about vis-a-vis Catholics but vis-a-vis the rest of Ireland.
"The type of anachronistic political Protestantism as exemplified by Paisleyism and by the Orange Order, none of that is going to take Northern Ireland very far into the 21st century," he said.
The former advisor fears the DUP does not know what the best option is for the autumn and this was shown in Ian Paisley's "blood and thunder" refusal to cooperate, detailed in his Twelfth speech.
But Dr Mansergh remains hopeful and points out that "the odds have always been against progress for the past 20 years".
"The odds were always against a ceasefire, an agreement, the odds were against an executive.
"The governments won't mind the fact that the odds are against it."
He is hopeful that the DUP leader may "redeem what many people would regard as a very destructive political career".
"It has impeded progress and reform... and it represented a sort of Protestantism that many decent Protestants on the island of Ireland would utterly repudiate.
"I would have hoped – and I must say I wasn't impressed by his July 12 speech – that he would like to leave something by way of a positive legacy even at this late stage," he said.
But ultimately if no deal is reached in the autumn, Dr Mansergh has no doubt that plan B will swing into action.
"The conditions, compared with the past are really ideal although unionists might ask themselves why they spent 20 years resisting coalition with the SDLP when Sinn Féin were absolutely no part of the equation. Some mistake in leadership somewhere there surely."
He predicted plan B would involve the Irish and British governments closing down many existing institutions.
The governments will take charge of north-south cooperation and will move beyond the "care and maintenance" agenda they have operated in recent years.
"It is about such cooperation not in support of any political project but simply if it's in the economic and social interests of the two parts of Ireland," he said.
"For example, Tourism Ireland has clearly boosted Northern Ireland tourism and decisions might be taken on things like the Ulster Canal.
"It is about any matter that is beyond the strictly internal affairs of Northern Ireland."
Dr Mansergh does not believe plan B involves any constitutional change or "joint authority" or "joint sovereignty".
The Tipperary senator thinks the most painful aspect of plan B for unionists would be the fact that their politicians would not be in charge.
While acknowledging how far Sinn Féin has come along the peace process road, he believes there is still one major move the party could make before the autumn.
Focusing on the issue of policing, he does not accept it should be seen as Sinn Féin's last remaining 'bargaining chip' in negotiations but believes instead that the party must now speak clearly and plainly about its intentions on the issue.
Dr Mansergh said Sinn Féin – with every party in Northern Ireland – still operates a powerful veto and this is its remaining means of leverage.
"I think – I do not want to be too prescriptive – but they should make it clear in the context of the Good Friday Agreement they would be prepared, subject to certain clarifications relating to policing, to join the policing board.
"I am not saying they haven't said it before but they should say it more clearly."
He also warned it would be wrong to assume any dominant party, Sinn Féin or the DUP, would remain so indefinitely.
When it comes to addressing Sinn Féin's growing strength in the Republic, Dr Mansergh closely follows the Fianna Fail party line, pointing out: "The taoiseach has ruled out a coalition with [Sinn Féin] after the next election."
Southern support for Sinn Féin, he believes, is a protest vote and, as a result, the party may gain "a seat or two", but he adds: "They are simply building on what happened in the local elections, building on pent-up momentum.
"At the same time, there is no steam-rollering process taking place.
"I mean there is no huge tide of opinion behind Sinn Féin that I am aware of. They contested the Meath by-election and their candidate only did very moderately.
"I don't myself see them being relevant to the formation of the next government."
He believes Sinn Féin's lack of economic pedigree or job creation pedigree will be a factor in the party's performance south of the border.
"If you are a moderate republican, you are far more likely to vote Fianna Fail or Labour because there is a greater raft of realistic economic and social policies coming behind that.
"Fianna Fail represents the republican tradition in the southern state and has a very successful tradition.
"Sinn Féin until very recently was totally opposed to the southern state.
"I think their European position is very clearly angled at a protest vote, as indeed is their pledge to raise corporation tax by something like 4 or 5%."
He believes Sinn Féin might not actually be keen to go into government but may wish to gather as big a protest vote as possible.
"Their strategy, as I understand it, is to build up their strength to be able to bargain from a position of strength... the very last thing Sinn Féin would want to do is go into coalition."
Should Sinn Féin go into coalition, opposition parties would attempt to make them responsible for "everything that goes wrong".
"Leaving paramilitarism to one side, Sinn Féin positions themselves well to the left of the Labour Party. Why would Fianna Fail want to go into coalition with them?" he said.
Turning to the peace process the Tipperary senator said one of the biggest obstacles to progress was a failure to seize the momentum in the three to four months after the 1994 ceasefire.
The ceasefire had come through long and arduous negotiations with republicans.
The series of talks, he says, almost always included Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness – usually with his advisor, Aidan McAteer, although he says occasionally others were present.
It was not until the middle of July 1994, six weeks before the IRA's first ceasefire, that things started to fall into place.
"The tone of Sinn Féin changed from one of seeking clarity to one of 'look we need to get all these things in place'," he said.
Momentum in the peace process was lost, he argued, by Sinn Féin's "stalling" on many issues such as decommissioning.
"I think it would have been to their advantage and everyone's advantage if the initial momentum had been better maintained.
"We are now four years since suspension which suggests that fighting things every inch of the way wasn't necessarily the best tactic."
He said the decision by the DUP to walk out of talks in the build-up to the Good Friday Agreement ultimately led to success in obtaining the deal – had the DUP remained in talks, he believes it would have been more difficult to secure a deal.
While nationalists – and even some unionists – speak of the 'inevitability' of a united Ireland, the former government advisor does not believe this to be true.
"My view is that nothing in human life or history is inevitable. It all depends on what people decide to do, when and in what circumstances.
"I think unity can be brought about if those who want it act intelligently," he said.
Dr Mansergh believes it will be "some, considerable, further time" before unity might be accepted, although he points out that opinion polls show 70% of people in the Republic would support unity.
He asks the question that, of the two states on the island of Ireland, which has been a success?
Despite unionist perceptions, Dr Mansergh points out that Irish governments have done all in their power to make the northern state work, through Sunningdale and on to the Good Friday Agreement.
While his career has been lived in the heady and difficult world of political discussion and negotiation, Dr Mansergh said there were some lighter moments.
Of those he was willing to allow printed was an incident involving Labour minister Liz O'Donnell and erstwhile Ulster Unionist leader now Lord Trimble.
"In talks between the Irish government and the Ulster Unionists, in the week of the Good Friday Agreement, Liz O'Donnell was making some point when Trimble glared across at her and shouted 'shut up'.
"And her reply was, very sweetly, 'there's no need to speak to me like that David'."
With that memory of the Good Friday Agreement, he left for Ballybofey. Time to collect his latest political prize.
Political career spanning four decades
Born in England in 1946, Martin Mansergh was the son of noted Anglo-Irish historian, Nicholas Mansergh.
He was educated at The King's School in Canterbury and at Christ Church, Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and took a doctorate in French history.
In 1974, he joined the Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs through open civil service competition and later moved to the Department of the Taoiseach. From 1982 until the late 1990s, he worked as special adviser on Northern Ireland to three separate taoisigh – Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern.
During this time he was involved in discussions with paramilitaries, mainstream parties and the British government.
Now living in Co Tipperary, he has been a member of Seanad Eireann since 2002.
He is also a member of the Irish Council of State, appointed by President Mary McAleese
