The possibilities were endless for the north, according to Brolly.
Northern Ireland missed a huge opportunity during the peace process to transform itself into "pluralist society", according to Joe Brolly.
As "green and orange" could not come together, Northern Ireland did not attract the investment it could have during this period.
"We could have attracted money from all over the world," Brolly told Dion Fanning during a live Ireland Unfiltered, recorded on location in Derry.
"If the green and the orange had gotten together, we could really have created a society that would have dealt with a lot of the problems that we have.
"There’d have been a huge influx of American money, of European Union money or public services could have gone up. We could have built a much more civilised society.
"But it was always going to come to this because in the end, the DUP is about narrow self-interest," he said.
This week, the DUP are under the spotlight as the UK and the EU intensify negotiations around the latest Brexit proposals in a bid to break the impasse.
A 90-minute meeting was held between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, DUP leader Arlene Foster and DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds on Monday night regarding the Brexit plans the UK will bring forward to the EU.
Pressure is on the DUP to back a plan if it's approved by the EU and UK negotiators prior to the rapidly approaching deadline.
While Brolly is sceptical that Brexit will ever happen, he thinks the DUP's attitude, no matter the outcome of the current Brexit impasse, has hurt Northern Ireland.
"The possibilities, and particularly when Peter Robinson was destroyed by the loonies, because they really are, f**ing banning gay blood and the homophobia and the way they talk about an Irish Language Act," he said.
"Basic stuff. An Irish Language Act wasn’t going to hurt anybody. Like, ‘great yeah it’s good, of course sign up to that.’ A bit of good will but instead now we’re in that situation where there’s that kind of triumphalist sneering all the time and eventually it has its impact.
"Eventually it has its impact. We see that the Tories were using them for a while in spite of the fact that the vast amount of damage that would be done in the very unlikely event of Brexit would be to those poverty stricken unionist areas."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0IiJ6JUiio
Ireland Unfiltered, brought to you in partnership with Carlsberg Unfiltered, will be available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube every Tuesday.
