Former PUP leader Dawn Purvis has told of how she feared she would be shot dead during a loyalist feud.
She described having to take care of her personal safety in 2000 when she and then party leader David Ervine were engaged in negotiations to end the dispute.
The former East Belfast MLA said: "When I left the house in the morning I wasn't sure I was going to come home to the house in the evening. It was terrifying."
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Ms Purvis was speaking to journalist Eamonn Mallie in the latest episode of his 'Face to Face with..' series which airs on Tuesday.
She described her upbringing in the Donegall Pass area of Belfast and how she became involved with her local community by setting up a mother and toddler group.
"As a young mum I was discovering the issues and challenges that women were facing in a community," she said.
Ms Purvis, who became PUP leader in 2007 following the death of Mr Ervine, said she knew she had to deal with the UVF but was hopeful they were "on a path" towards decommissioning "and then eventually demobilisation".
She described how the UVF murder of Bobby Moffett in 2010 prompted her to step down as PUP leader.
"It was just completely wrong - I was not going to be an apologist for UVF violence," she said.
The former MLA said her predecessor's "dream" political project was to "bring paramilitarism to an end" and "transform working-class communities so they would thrive".
"I was trying to do politics with one hand tied behind my back, and it's impossible to move forward in those circumstances," she added.
When asked why loyalism has not made the same inroads in their communities as Sinn Féin in recent years, she said: "They did a pretty bad job of selling and implementing the Good Friday Agreement."
She added: "People get what they vote for. Unionism hasn't demonstrated to the unionist population that it is serious about building a Northern Ireland of equals."
Asked if she would ever return to politics, she said: "I'm still very interested in politics. If there was a party that had the principles and values that I hold dearly.. that's something I would think about."
Eamonn Mallie Face to Face with Dawn Purvis airs on Tuesday March 28 at 10.55pm on UTV.
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