Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, is being widely credited with bringing an end to the Cold War and changing the political lanscape of Europe.
He died yesterday at the age of 91 and has been described as a man with 'vision'.
Political commentator Sean McKiernan told Northern Sound it was Gorbachev's humble beginnings that made him the man he was.
Mr McKiernan said the former leader was lucky to receive an education and remained grateful throughout his life for that.
He added that Mr Gorbachev was in many ways 'ahead of his time' because he understood the importance of 'dialogue' between nations.
"It could be argued that if Gorbachev had given some measure of freedom to the Republics a bit sooner, the Soviet Union might have perservered," Mr McKiernan continued.
"That is what he was trying to do in the summer of 1991 when the hardliners in his party staged a coup against him.
"That coup, ironically, probably hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
"It made the Russian Soviet President Boris Yeltsin a much more prominent figure."
