Murphy: an man with universal appeal?

Chris Thornton reflects on Paul Murphy’s unique cross party appeal:

“Paul Murphy enters Northern Ireland in an unusual position for a new Secretary of State: he is intimately familiar with the politics, pitfalls and players that await him. Perhaps that’s because Mr Murphy also left Northern Ireland in an unusual position. When he was promoted out of the NIO in 1999, he left with the near universal respect of the parties.”

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