If anyone could bring the Troubles in Northern Ireland to an end through peaceful means, they had a duty to do it, according to John Hume.

John Hume Jr, the son of one of the Good Friday Agreement architects, was speaking to Newstalk's podcast  As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement as the 25th anniversary of the accord approaches.

Growing up in the Hume household was like having a front row seat to the horrors of the Troubles.

Mr Hume said that even in the worst moments, his father always believed in achieving peace through talking.

"That was his view, that if you come in out of the cold, this is the only way forward, that you're never going to create what you ultimately want by putting a gun to someone's head, that you cannot force a united Ireland. It's just not doable", he said.

"Eventually they saw that he was right."

For the first time, Mr Hume told the story of one of his father's run-ins with the IRA.

"I remember the day he got a phone call from the IRA and they said meet at a certain point just over the Buncrana border at four o'clock on a Friday afternoon", he said.

"My mum would've been in the office and he rang down. He said, 'look, I'm going away'.

"He was taken in the van, he was blindfolded, he was driven around the country for 24 hours, and he was finally sort of put in a room and put in front of the army council who then wanted to video the meeting.

"He refused, so he was put back in a room for another 24 hours and then driven halfway around the country and then eventually was put out in the side of a road somewhere in West Donegal.

"My mother was beside herself with worry, as were we all were, and obviously this couldn't be talked to anyone really outside very close friends.

"That was my dad. Despite these things ... he was not for stopping. And as he said himself, 'if I can achieve by talking to people what thousands of soldiers and thousands of policemen on the streets have failed to do, then it's my duty to do so'."

Former SDLP leader John Hume arrives for the funeral of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds at Sacred Heart Church, Donnybrook Dublin.

After the first ceasefire, Mr Hume said his father felt a huge sense of achievement.

"He had climbed the mountain, the big black cloud had lifted", he said.

"I remember so well the day of the ceasefire, and it was the happiness and the hope ... it was a new dawn.

"I remember there was a huge sense of euphoria everywhere, all the entire island and further afield. It was just incredible looking back."

Health

His father was 'delighted' but it was then that his health was deteriorating.

"Life, for health reasons, became a lot more difficult", Mr Hume explained.

"He was hospitalised quite a bit in the period '94 to '98 and he just wasn't himself again.

"I think the hard years were starting to take their toll."

As I Remember It

As I Remember It is a nine-part series that is now available on all streaming platforms.

Three episodes will be released each week throughout the run.

For bonus content including interviews, videos, an interactive timeline of the peace process and a full glossary of the key players head to newstalk.com/goodfridayagreement.

You can hear Episode One here: