The negotiations culminated in the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998, a year after Mr Bruton lost Ireland's 1997 election to the rival party Fianna Fáil, led by Bertie Ahern, who became prime minister.
Irish President Michael D Higgins credited Broughton with keeping negotiators focused on the overall goal of reaching a peace agreement to end decades of sectarian conflict, known as “the Troubles.”
Violence erupted in the late 1960s but its roots go back to centuries of Catholic-Protestant conflict and the partition of the island in 1921 between the British-controlled north and the future Republic of Ireland.
The Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, was reached on 10 April 1998, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined other prominent figures in Belfast to announce the peace framework that had been reached over 21 months of negotiations. Key points included greater autonomy for Northern Ireland and pledges to end the conflict. On one side were largely Catholic factions, including the Irish Republican Army and its political wing Sinn Féin; On the other hand were the Protestant loyalists and the British army, allied with the local police and paramilitary forces.
Some hardline factions of the IRA refused to accept the truce, but it largely ended the violence that had killed more than 3,600 people over three decades.
John Gerard Broughton was born on 18 May 1947 into a farming family in Dunboyne, about 10 miles north-west of Dublin. He studied at University College Dublin, obtained a bachelor's degree, and later became a barrister but never practiced law.
He was elected to the Dáil at the 1969 general election as one of the youngest members to hold a seat in Parliament. After retiring from politics, Mr. Bruton served as the European Union's ambassador to the United States between 2004 and 2009.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, the former Finola Gale; A son and three daughters.
Washington Post staff contributed to this report.
