Geoffrey Howe

Mairéad Farrell was shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988 along with two other unarmed members of the IRA in one of the most controversial incidents arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland. She had just been released from prison the year before after serving ten years for causing an explosion at an hotel near Belfast. The killing of the three provoked an international outcry and eventual enquiry. Due to her youth, her gender and her stature within the IRA, Mairéad Farrell was, unsurprisingly, quickly subsumed into the pantheon of Irish republican martyrs. But behind the mythologizing and demonisation of the time, there was also a real person, a flesh and blood young woman who was prepared to kill and die for her beliefs.

Michael Cockerell talks to all of the surviving people to hold the post of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs including the current incumbent, and invites the viewer to imagine their life in the position.

This topical debate series based on Any Questions? typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience.