US President's Bill Clinton's decision to grant a visa to Gerry Adams was unpopular in some quarters but helped advance the peace process, former BBC journalist and Irish News columnist Gavin Esler told an audience of business people interested in the conversation about constitutional change.
The one-time member of the White House press corps was speaking on Friday at a business lunch at Belfast's Europa Hotel organised by Ireland's Future.
Also speaking at the civic nationalist group's event, which was attended by around 300 people, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and her SDLP counterpart Colum Eastwood, was Noel Doran, editor of The Irish News.
During Mr Esler's address he spoke of the potential for people and circumstances to change.
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He said the 1994 decision by the Clinton administration to give the then Sinn Féin president a US visa "angered (British prime minister) John Major".
"That caused a row but oiled the wheels of peace," he said.
Mr Doran recounted the transformation in the north's social and political landscape in a journalistic career spanning four decades.
He too highlighted the potential for change and gave credit to the politicians from all sides who worked towards a stable, lasting peace.
"I cannot say where the next phase of our journey is definitely going to take us, but I believe that we are heading firmly in the direction of shared understandings and ever closer relationships across our small island," he said.
"I don't know what sort of schedules may unfold but I'm sure that carefully considering our options through constructive debates across the board, such as today's gathering, can only help the wider democratic process."
