Morning Ireland

by Aine Lawlor

Throughout the nineties, for Prime Time and then Morning Ireland, I spent a lot of my time in the North, reporting on the Troubles.

Heart-breaking stuff.

And as a presenter on Morning Ireland, I had done my share of interviews with the main party leaders, in what seemed to be the endless political bickering between both sides.

Soul-destroying stuff.

My bookshelves were laden with scores of books about the conflict but, in 1999, one book was published that made a huge impression on me, 'Lost Lives'.

'Lost Lives' was put together by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton. It told the stories of all the lives that had been lost, every casualty of the Troubles, from the soldier to the IRA volunteer, the Catholic worker, the Protestant mother, the child caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought, and still think, that it's one of the most moving and telling acounts of those dark years.

We were coming up to the Millennium, the Good Friday Agreement was in place, and I had the idea of asking all the leaders of the parties involved in the peace process each to tell one of the stories from 'Lost Lives'.

David McKittrick and Brian Feeney I knew, so one dark and wet night in Belfast, I met them and Seamus Kelters and Chris Thornton and they gave their support to the project. Like everyone else I asked for help, they generously backed me to make the recording.

Joe Lennon, Government press secretary, persuaded the Taoiseach to come on board, President McAleese readily agreed to take part, and with those two big hitters lined up, Brian O'Connell in London got Tony Blair, and Mark Little in Washington pulled out all the stops to secure the involvement of talks chairman George Mitchell and President Clinton. And in our Belfast office, David Davin Power pulled more strings to help secure the involvement of the Northern party leaders.

What was striking about all the contributions was their personal nature, the politicians weren't just recounting the story of one individual, they were talking about people they'd known, tragedies they'd lived through, events that had shaped their lives and their politics.

Throughout November and December 1999, we compiled the recordings. Sound man Noel Roberts did a beautiful job of editing them together with music, and on Christmas Eve 1999, we broadcast the excerpts they had chosen from Lost Lives. Of all the projects I have worked on over the years, this is one that was a personal highlight. I'm glad people have a chance to hear this again now, and once again I am so grateful to the very many colleagues in the North and in RTÉ whose support and hard work helped it happen.