At the time of writing, Mark Durkan was Minister of Finance and Personnel in the new Northern Ireland Executive. A member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) he was a senior member of the talks team in the Brooke talks and in the negotiations leading to the Belfast Agreement.

Read more from Mark:

Accord Issue 8: Northern Ireland

Mark Durkan is a contributor to our Accord publication series and not a staff member of Conciliation Resources. The views expressed in the publication are their own and do not reflect the position of Conciliation Resources. We cannot share contributors' contact details.