Tony Blair admits he lied to save Irish peace process

Talked God with Paisley and admired Sinn Fein leaders

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Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister

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Tony Blair has admitted he lied to prevent the collapse of the North's peace process, in his new memoir “A Journey’ which launches today.

Blair said said he took “horrendous” chances and stretched the truth “past breaking point” as he sought to carve out a deal between unionists and nationalists who were often deadlocked on issues.

He also revealed  a shocking incident with a leading Orangeman who described him as unfit to be prime minister because “my wife was a painted jezebel who claimed her allegiance to Rome”.

In his new autobiography Tony Blair has also stated that he developed very strong relationships with  Sinn Féin leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, and admitted he came to like them both greatly.

"They were an extraordinary couple," he said of the two men, who have been at the highest levels of republican movement since the early 1970s. "Over time I came to like both greatly, probably more than I should have, if truth be told … They were supreme masters of the distinction between tactics and strategy. They knew the destination and they were determined to bring their followers with them, or at least the vast bulk of them."

Recalling the first meeting with  Sinn Féin leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, Blair wrote: “They were not just hesitant or distrustful, they were sitting down with the enemy.

“For countless meetings at first, Martin would not simply want to negotiate, most of all he would want to explain his side’s purpose, its pain, its anger and its expectations.

“It took time before he came to regard me as a partner and even a friend.”

He says he never accepted that Sinn Fein and the IRA were one and the same.: "I came to the view that the SF/IRA relationship was a bit like that of the Labour leadership and the Labour party NEC [national executive committee]: yes the leadership is powerful, yes it usually gets its way, but not always and rarely without a lot of persuasion and discussion,”

He also reveals that he advised Ian Paisley to "let God guide him" in the final stages of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations that  led to the end of The Troubles and the power-sharing government  between the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin in 2007.

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