Haleh Afshar, Professor of Politics and Women's Studies at York University, believes that Mowlam's toughness and ability to listen made the difference.

"She was unafraid, she actually was willing to talk to terrorists … that actually takes a leap of imagination as well as a very real sense of bravery. She had the same kind of toughness that we have seen in all the women politicians that we have talked about. She knew that she wanted to intervene, she knew she wanted to make a difference and she was going to do it by being very different from all the people who went before her - by actually going down and hearing each side, and listening to them, and trying to bring two sides together - rather than having her own agenda and trying to impose some central will that neither side really wanted. That was very new and very refreshing in Irish politics."