As they say, one thing led to another, and, ultimately, the British and Irish governments asked me to serve as chairman of the peace negotiations, which ironically began six years ago this week.

Mitchell frames his role in the Northern Ireland peace process as the product of contingency rather than personal ambition: “one thing led to another.” The remark underscores how major historical outcomes can hinge on incremental, often unplanned steps—contacts, trust-building, and small decisions that accumulate into responsibility at the highest level. By noting the “irony” that the negotiations began “six years ago this week,” he highlights the long, grinding timescale of peacemaking and the mismatch between the desire for swift resolution and the reality of protracted conflict. The tone is modest and reflective, emphasizing persistence and the unexpected pathways by which individuals become central to history.