Power-sharing 'a lesson for others'

As he witnessed the swearing in of the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness as the joint heads of Northern Ireland's new devolved government, Mr Blair said he always believed a deal was possible if both men could be persuaded to talk to each other.

"I think there are definite lessons for other conflicts," he said.

"First of all, you have got to define the right political framework.

"Secondly, you need to make sure that the external players - in this case governments like the United States - are working alongside the same track as the internal players who want peace.

"The most important thing, though, is to find a space through the absence of conflict where you can get people listening to each other and talking to each other and then understanding."

As he reflected on his 10 years of trying to secure permanent peace and stable government in Northern Ireland, Mr Blair paid tribute to Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

He also insisted that even though some critics have claimed Iraq will overshadow the achievements in Northern Ireland, he was right to go with his gut feeling.

"Ultimately, with some of these decisions they are so difficult that you have to go with your instinct about what was right," he said.

"Sometimes the judgment is not made immediately. It is made over time."