A Bermudian woman's role in an innovative search for peace in Northern Ireland has not gone unnoticed.

Last year, Arlene Brock, a mediator and conflict management expert now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts was asked to participate in a series of Internet interviews with Irish political party leaders.

Microsoft Network hosted the series in November last year, at the same time as real world talks.

Ms Brock -- the daughter of National Drug Commission chairman Mansfield Brock -- had the distinction of being the only person to be interviewed who was not a leader of an Irish political party.

And she also pointed out that the talks were especially important because party representatives, David Trimble and Ian Paisley Jr., refused to take part in formal talks, but were willing to participate in the on-line forum.

According to Niall MacAnna, Special Events Producer at the Microsoft Network, more than 350,000 Internet "hits'' took place during Ms Brock's interview.

And Ms Brock's original one-hour time allotment had to be extended by 22 minutes to accommodate the number of interested persons.

A further 9 million people have taken advantage of the on-line series to question Irish leaders or simply to read interview transcripts.

"Arlene was able to apply her unique experience as a professional negotiator, a woman from the colony of Bermuda and a member of the Baha'i faith,'' said Mr. MacAnna.

"The simple human stories that Arlene told to show how people in conflict can change how they see the world got the most reaction.

"Arlene's contribution had much professional insight. But what made it so effective was the unique way she had combined the spiritual with the practical,'' he added.

Ms Brock acknowledged the scope of the talks was outside her usual area of expertise and admitted she had to do extensive research "to get a sense of the complex issues faced by Ireland''.

But she said: "It's not just a political solution that's needed.

"In a situation like this, where there is so much hatred, we need a spiritual solution too.'' In her interview, Ms Brock said she expounded on conflict management methodology, the principles of diversity and justice as practised by the Baha'i Faith, and the need for empathy and creative problem solving.

And she challenged the people of Northern Ireland to use "cooperation symbolism as an alternative to the marches which are usually used to intensify age-old hatreds''.

Ms Brock said she hoped the "cyberspace peace talks'' could be expanded and continued to include the community in general and especially many of the "highly influential'' prisoners of the Irish conflict.