THE NORTHERN Ireland peace process has had many heroes who played quiet but important roles in bringing people together, but the contribution made by Bobby, the golden retriever, has remained hidden until now.
Following his appointment as Northern Ireland secretary of state, Peter Mandelson bought the dog after being prompted by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who had told him how much easier it was to think through difficult problems when out for a walk with his own pet.
"He even offered to get me one. That was vetoed by my security officials, no doubt because they feared a listening device would be embedded into one of the dog's paws," writes Lord Mandelson in his memoir, The Third Manpublished today.
Bobby played his part in March 2000 when the two men went for a long walk in the gardens of Hillsborough on a Saturday afternoon as all sides struggled to deal with the fallout from the collapse of the institutions the month before.
“Gerry seemed to dote on [him] as much as I did,” he writes.
The dog, who arrived in Hillsborough as a puppy was christened by Tony Blair, and subsequently joined by a parson’s terrier, who was “of course” called Jack. “Bobby in particular was to become quite the star in dog-loving Northern Ireland.
“My office started to receive requests for photographs – not of me, but of my trusty retriever. I remember visiting a girls school and being greeted by an excited group of pupils. ‘Where is he? Where is he?’ they shouted. ‘I’m here,’ I replied. They meant Bobby.”
Following his appointment to Belfast, Lord Mandelson met all the main players: “Gerry Adams was the most intriguing. I could sense that he was used to playing on his reputation for toughness and guile to get what he wanted. As we both recognised going into our first conversation, so was I.”
Rejecting allegations that he had forced his highly popular predecessor, Mo Mowlam out of the Northern Ireland post, Mandelson claims that he had in fact told Mr Blair in July 1999 to leave her where she was.
Though she briefed against him, Mandelson says that she was gracious when he arrived at Hillsborough to replace her, showing him “with real delight” around the eighteenth century residence.
