United Ireland ‘screwed’ without Protestant support

During the podcast interview, Mr Ó Muilleoir recalled a trip to Cork with his “great friend” Maurice Kincaid, who founded the East Belfast Partnership, that made him pause for thought.

“We were sitting at the end of the night after going to the theatre – we were trying to bring a play to Belfast – having a glass of wine.

“And he said: ‘You know, maybe 30 years of this instead of 30 years of bombs might have been more productive to your cause!’ And he said it tongue-in-cheek.

“But there’s some truth in that. We’ve been through a nightmare. So maybe. I’ve a long way to go continuing to engage with unionists, trying to say to them: things will be better.”

The former politician, who served as finance minister, is now focussing on his business interests in Ireland and the United States.

He also told Red Lines about the impact the early years of the Troubles had on him as a teenager growing up in west Belfast, his many years as a Belfast city councillor and the autonomy his party gave him to make decisions as a minister in the Stormont Executive.

You can hear Mark’s interview with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir in full on this week’s edition of Red Lines.