The resignation of Mr Peter Mandelson as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is something the peace process could have done without. In the midst of the most delicate negotiations to restore the Belfast Agreement to working order against a tight deadline, the denouement which brought about his exodus from the Northern Ireland Office is far from helpful. The Scottish Secretary, Mr John Reid, will replace him in Stormont Castle this morning. In the immediate aftermath of his resignation statement, however, Mr Mandelson characterised the transition correctly: "It has been the greatest privilege of my political life to play a part in the peace process in Northern Ireland, something far bigger than any one individual or his career".
But if Mr Mandelson's departure from Northern Ireland is regrettable, as evidenced by the tributes from Mr David Trimble and Mr Gerry Adams yesterday, it strikes a perilous blow to his mentor, Mr Tony Blair, as he prepares for a general election in May. Mr Mandelson was the key strategist in New Labour and the king of spin for Mr Blair's Government. He had two consuming policy interests which he shared with the Prime Minister: Northern Ireland and Europe. That Mr Mandelson let Mr Blair down once might be deemed unfortunate in politics; that an issue of impropriety led to the loss of his Cabinet seat for a second time in the same Government's term must raise questions about the Prime Minister's own political judgement. He was visibly shaken in the seat beside Mr Mandelson in the House of Commons yesterday.
For all of that, it should be generously acknowledged that Mr Mandelson played a key role in the peace process at difficult times during his tenure of office. The controversial decision to suspend the Executive to save Mr Trimble's leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party fell on his shoulders. History has shown that he made the correct call. Later he managed to have the institutions of the Belfast Agreement restored within months without any actual decommissioning from the IRA. It was important, on certain occasions, that he held Mr Trimble's confidence, all the more to enable him to push for reciprocation for nationalists in return.
Mr Mandelson - together with former US President Clinton, the Taoiseach and Mr Blair - was instrumental in brokering the current basis for agreement on decommissioning, demilitarisation and policing. The negotiations between the two governments and the pro-agreement parties are at an advanced stage. The Prime Minister is leading the on-going talks and, it is to be hoped, will continue to do so to their completion. He carries a greater obligation now to protect the peace process.
The sequence of events leading to Mr Mandelson's resignation makes an interesting comparison from the perspective of this State. His departure demonstrates, very starkly, the differences in political culture between Britain and Ireland. After days of controversy about the source and substance of his inquiries about a passport application, Mr Mandelson was forced to resign. The Prime Minister accepted his resignation yesterday on the basis that the reply, through Mr Mandelson's office, to inquiries from a newspaper was "misleading and resulted in the House of Commons and the lobby being misled". The offence of misleading parliament has different implications in different countries.