Transcript of an interview with Bertie Ahern, Irish Taoiseach, by David Frost for BBC Breakfast with Frost on 13 October 2002. During that year confidence in the stability of the Northern Ireland Assembly was undermined by continued paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland and abroad, community tensions in Belfast and allegations of a republican spy-ring at Stormont. In this interview Ahern discusses the long-term future of power-sharing government in Northern Ireland in light of these difficulties. One day later John Reid, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced a suspension of devolved government and a return to direct rule. Breakfast with Frost was a weekly current affairs programme on BBC.
Date of Release/Broadcast: 13 October 2002
Name of First Interviewee: Bertie Ahern
Role at time of Interview: Irish Taoiseach
Interviewer: David Frost
Purpose: News
Media: Transcript
Copyright: © BBC Breakfast with Frost
Link: Read the transcript
Programme/Book/Article: BBC Breakfast with Frost
Time Period covered: 2002
Key Individuals: Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, John Reid, David Trimble, Martin McGuinness, Brian Cowan, Gerry Adams
Key Words: Suspension of Institutions, Sinn Féin, community relations, religion, Nice Treaty, referendum, European Union