Peace Comes Dropping Slow: My Life in the Troubles

Denis Bradley was born and raised in Buncrana, just 12 miles from the border with Northern Ireland. On joining the priesthood he found himself assigned to the cathedral parish in Derry city, arriving in the summer of 1970 as the streets were descending into chaos with the outbreak of the Troubles. An eyewitness to the wanton violence of Bloody Sunday, Bradley was spurred to become involved in the ’ backchannel’ as one of three men who would provide a secret link between the IRA and the British government for thirty years. Fervent in their belief that dialogue would bring peace, they brokered the crucial 1993 meeting between IRA men Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly and a British Intelligence agent codenamed ’ Fred’ . This was a vital step on the road to negotiations which would lead to the ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement. Throughout it all, Bradley worked to combat addiction and homelessness in his adopted community, and made the difficult decision to leave the priesthood to marry. Once played out in the shadows, Bradley’s pivotal role in Northern Ireland’s peace process is finally illuminated in this engrossing memoir.

Denis Bradley was born in Buncrana, County Donegal, but has spent most of his adult life in Derry city. He is a former priest, who has also worked as a counsellor and set up shelters for the homeless and treatment centres for alcohol and drug addiction. He was the first vice chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, set up to oversee the actions of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and as a member of the so-called ’ backchannel’, who acted as go-betweens for the IRA and the British government, was instrumental in helping bring about the Good Friday Agreement.