It could have a positive effect, or it could stir passions further. It could have no effect at all. The only important thing now is to get over these awful, awful days and restore people’s...

There is an opportunity, perhaps with what has happened over the weekend with the intervention of Tony Blair from Japan, to concentrate people’s minds on the issues.

We desperately need a deal before Christmas, and we have to hope that President Clinton’s coming heralds the end game — because the alternative is just too terrible to contemplate.

This society believed that it was looking towards a new future, and we consistently find ourselves being dragged backwards.

I have a feeling of awful foreboding that there are people out there so determined to damage me that they will take an innocent life.

We know it was a drive-by shooting. It would seem that the Loyalist Volunteer Force are intent on killing Catholic doormen.

We might have to shoot out the clocks at five minutes to midnight, but we’ll get there. The gap is bridgeable. We have a decent chance of an agreement.

The PUP is now out of that loop.

I may not have always agreed with her, but today I really feel I’ve lost a personal friend.