Sinn Féin considered campaigning against the Good Friday Agreement in the referendum in the Republic, former special advisor and minister Martin Mansergh has revealed. 

Speaking to As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement, Mr Mansergh recalled that the changes to the Irish Constitution necessitated by the agreement caused a certain amount of discomfort within republican circles. 

Prior to the Good Friday Agreement, Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution declared the national territory consisted of the entire island of Ireland - something that had long irritated unionists in Northern Ireland. 

The Irish Government agreed to support their amendment in a referendum and replace them with an aspiration for unity instead - it was a change that made certain republicans feel uneasy. 

“I remember having a couple of hours of a tough session with Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin who, needless to say, didn’t like the changes we were making to Articles 2 and 3,” he told the podcast. 

“[They] even vaguely contemplated the possibility of supporting the referendum in the North and opposing it in the South. 

“They actually went so far as having posters printed.”

Gerry Adams holds a copy of the Good Friday agreement with Martin McGuinness.

Mr Mansergh warned Sinn Féin that if they supported a Yes vote in one jurisdiction and a No vote in the other, the media would make things very difficult for them. 

“They [journalists] just love inconsistency,” he said. 

“But I remember also Adams coming to me about three, four weeks [later] jabbing his finger at me and saying, ‘What’s proposed there is unacceptable - do you understand?’ 

“I sort of nodded and I’m afraid, I didn’t do a thing in response. We just kept going.” 

The referendum in the Republic of Ireland was held on 22nd May 1998 and 94% of voters cast their ballots in favour of the Good Friday Agreement.