Six months ago, people in Northern Ireland were coming to terms with the reality that devolution was back after a three-year hiatus.

The new decade, new approach deal had been reached after much political horse trading and a good old-fashioned dollop of compromise on all sides.

The financial sweetener from Westminster didn't quite live up to the local politicians' expectations, but the arrangement held firm.

COVID-19 reared its ugly head and the rest, as they say, is history. The man who was seen as central to persuading

the parties to sign up to restoring the institutions at Stormont was the then Secretary of State

Julian Smith, and I'm pleased to say he's my guest for this edition of Red Lions. Julian, welcome to the programme.

Thank you, Mark.

Nice to talk to you.

We haven't chatted for a while.

I want to hear your insiders take on those negotiations in this conversation,

and we'll be joined a little bit later by the Belfast Telegraph, Suzanne Breen,

and by our own end at McLafordy,

to hear their thoughts on your time at the helm here as well. But I want you to cast your mind

back to last July. And the meeting you had with Boris Johnson, the then-new Prime Minister,

when he told you he was sending you to Northern Ireland, what do you remember about that

conversation?

Well, I remember most of it, but I had actually been in the, very unusually in the pub all

afternoon, having finished as Chief Witt, I think the reshuffle had gone on for most of the day.

I went with my team to end some tumultuous years as Government Chief Whip,

not knowing whether I would be in the reshuffle or not, but the hours went by and went by,

and I was in the pub slightly longer than I probably should have been when I was then asked to return to Downing Street

and meet the Prime Minister. And I was absolutely over the moon, having declared where I'd been

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