Last week, the spotlight was fixed on this part of the word thanks to President Joe Biden's visit to Ulster University's new Belfast campus.

This week, it was Queen's University's turn to host an impressive lineup of world leaders, past and present,

at a three-day conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Tony Blair talked about his delight at getting the band back together again.

The Red Lions team was there for the duration and in the course of this podcast we'll hear a range of

views on the significance of what happened 25 years ago and how the currently stalled political

process might get back on track again. The need to reform how the Assembly and

executive operate was a recurring theme of conversations in and around the event. And it's

something I discussed with Tony Blair's former Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell and the former

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Well, I want to see the institutions up quick and quick meaning the earliest possible date,

probably after the local elections now.

That seems to be the sense of everybody.

I think then the debate will move on.

How do we avoid that position reoccurring?

We've had too many stop starts all the way over the 25 years.

And in my sense that requires probably the second review. We've only had one review in St Andrews, 2006.

You know, that's 17 years ago, coming up to 17 anniversary. And that review should look at whatever is on the table. It's not only the

stop-start nature, alliance of issues. I think some of the issues that I know have

bedeviled the system, how government actually works, how administration works, the relationship

between officials and government and have political parties and advisors.

I think there are a number of those issues that I've heard publicly and privately, a lot privately, over the years.

And I think they're best to be trashed out and organized.

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