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THE 20th ANNIVERSARY of the Good Friday Agreement is being marked at the moment.
Events have already taken place in Washington and New York, and you’ll likely hear much more about the historic 1998 peace deal in the coming weeks. Former US President Bill Clinton and ex-senator George Mitchell, the US envoy who helped broker the agreement, are expected to accept the Freedom of Belfast at an event in the city on 10 April (the actual date of the deal, Easter being a moveable feast).
The Good Friday Agreement, which set out a blueprint for peace in Northern Ireland, has been in the headlines quite a bit in the last few years as preservation of the deal has been top of the agenda for the Irish government in the Brexit negotiations.
If you need a quick primer on how the deal was agreed and what’s actually covered in it, read on…
The British and Irish governments and most of the political parties in the North – including Sinn Féin, the SDLP and David Trimble’s UUP, which was the main force in mainstream unionism at the time. Smaller parties representing the loyalist paramilitaries were also involved in the discussions leading up to the agreement. Ian Paisley’s DUP did not take part in the final talks.
Efforts to bring about power-sharing in the North in the 1970s, based on the so-called Sunningdale Agreement had failed. In the 1980s, the unionists were left reeling as the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed by Margaret Thatcher and Garrett Fitzgerald, gave Dublin a say in the affairs of the North for the first time. Later, SDLP leader John Hume began talks with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. That was followed in 1993 by the Downing Street declaration between John Major and Albert Reynolds, which signalled that republicans and loyalists could attend talks on the future of the North if paramilitary groups handed over their arms.
John Major and Albert Reynolds outside Downing StreetSource: Rollingnews.ieThe IRA declared a ceasefire the following year, as did the loyalists - but as political efforts continued, the IRA recommenced their armed attacks with large scale bombings in London and Manchester. In 1997, Tony Blair took over from John Major as British Prime Minister and declared that Sinn Fein could have a place at the negotiating table on condition of an IRA ceasefire.
Multi-party talks had been established in the summer of 1996. By September of 1997, in the wake of the second IRA ceasefire, Sinn Féin and representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries were allowed back to the talks table. A series of problems threatened to throw the entire process off track before Easter - including the exclusion of the UDP and Sinn Féin from negotiations after it was determined that the UFF and IRA had carried out further killings. By the end of March, both parties were again back at the talks but George Mitchell, frustrated by the lack of progress, said a deadline was imperative if a deal was to be finally reached. He set that deadline as midnight on 9 April.
Mitchell presented a draft document to the parties and the representatives of the Dublin and London governments on Monday 6 April. Unionists rejected it, prompting Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair to fly in, in the hope of rescuing the agreement and getting it over the line in time.
Accounts of various main players recall that no-one got very much sleep in the days that followed, as the parties and the governments lurched from crisis to crisis, holed up in the decaying surroundings of the 1970s-era Castle Buildings.
As one problem was solved, another would open up. Even after the deadline passed, there was one final breakdown to address - as it looked like the Ulster Unionist Party were about to pull out. Trimble, after telling Blair his party couldn't tolerate so many concessions to republicans, was given a side-letter by the British giving him reassurances on banning Sinn Féin from the power-sharing government if the IRA did not start decommissioning.
Bill Clinton was credited with making several key interventions, phoning main players like Trimble and Adams as he was briefed on developments overnight.
Jonathan Powell, who served as Tony Blair's chief of staff and played a major role in the peace efforts, recalled how, on Good Friday morning, the parties were stunned that they'd actually accomplished a deal:
The plenary was a low-key affair at which all the party leaders assented to the agreement except for Adams, who said he was very positive but had to consult with his party conference. There was no applause, just stunned silence. Tony and Bertie left before the votes of thanks and mutual congratulations so that they could be the first out to explain the agreement to the media before the other party leaders tried to put their spin on it.
RTÉ's TV reports from that evening showed jubilant scenes - as players from all sides realised that they may finally have achieved an agreement that would secure the fragile peace.
You can read the entire thing online if you like (it won't take too much of your time, interestingly it's only 35 pages long). In short, it included plans for a new power-sharing northern assembly that would ensure both communities were represented at the highest levels. This would include a First Minister who, based on the demographics of the six counties, was certain to be a unionist, and a Deputy First Minister who would be a nationalist - but it would essentially be a joint role.
Cross-border North-South institutions would also be set up, alongside the 'east-west' British-Irish Council (including representatives from the Isle of Man Government and the Channel Islands, in addition to members from the UK and Ireland). As part of the deal, the Republic also agreed it would drop its constitutional claim to the North.
The deal included controversial provisions for the release of paramilitary prisoners, and proposals for dealing with decommissioning and the future of policing.
The 'principal of consent' was central. Essentially, this affirms the legitimacy of aspiring towards a united Ireland while recognising the current wish of the majority to remain in the UK.
The agreement states:
... it is for the people of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively and without external impediment, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a United Ireland, accepting that this right must be achieved and exercised with and subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.
Authors David McKittrick and David McVea give this straightforward explanation of the landmark deal in their book 'Making Sense of the Troubles':
The accord addressed the republican preoccupation with self-determination butcrucially it defined consent as requiring that the people of Northern Ireland would decide whether it stayed in Britain or joined a united Ireland. It provided for a rewriting of Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution to remove what unionists regarded as the objectionable claim to the territory of Northern Ireland. It provided for a new 108-member Belfast assembly, to which Westminster would devolve full power over areas such as education, health and agriculture, including the right to make new laws. London would retain responsibility for matters such as defence and law and order, though it promised to consider devolving security powers at a later stage.
The agreement still had to be put to referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic, and the political leaders who had backed the deal spent the following months convincing voters to back it. Paisley's DUP said his party aimed to achieve a 40% 'no' vote in the North, which would mean it had failed to gain majority unionist support. On the republican side, dissidents split off from the Provisional IRA to form the Real IRA.
The referendums were eventually passed on 22 May, by 71% in the North and 94% in the Republic. Turnout was high across the island. It was the first all-island vote since the election of 1918. David Trimble and Seamus Mallon were elected as First and Deputy First Ministers later that summer.
In August the largest single atrocity of The Troubles took place as Real IRA bombs in Omagh killed 29 people and two unborn twins. The attack did not, however, derail the peace process. Clinton visited the following month to help bolster efforts to establish a working political system. The first prisoners were released later that year, and the first demolition of security installments and checkpoints began.
Of course, it took many more years before issues like policing and decommissioning of weapons could be dealt with to the satisfaction of both sides. The most stable period of power-sharing began in May 2007 when the DUP's Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness assumed office as first and deputy first minister.
Here is a link to the Good Friday Agreement.
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Well it’s being used as a carte blanche by The Sinnfeinologists to forget the sins of their past.
@MK76: what about the sins of the South FF & FG that allowed the free reign of the Catholic church raping childern. Using government agencies against who ever went against them. Oh don’t forget the blueshirts
@Michael Collins: What? A Sinnfeinologist deflecting? This is a new and worrying departure for us all.
Try stay on topic please.
@MK76: well it’s easy for a blueshirt to look at problems across the fence instead of their own yard. The problems on all sides in the north is down too segragation by the British government and partly to to the Irish government as well
@Michael Collins: I don’t disagree Michael with that point Michael, but The Sinnfeinologist’s shameful attempts to pretend they weren’t involved in some of the worst atrocities of The Troubles is an issue, given they have designs of leading/being in Govt inThe Republic.
@MK76: everyone was involved. So what about the DUP UDA etc this is the reason for the GFA is to to leave the past in the past
@Michael Collins: Neither of those parties are looking to lead/be in Govt in The Republic Michael. The thought of having a Sinnfeinologist Minister of Justice is just abhorrent until such time as they fess up and then move away from their violent past.
Mary Lou screaming TÁL and Up the Rebels hardly is indicative of that, now is it.
@Michael Collins: super whataboutery there!
@MK76: now so you don’t believe that no one only from a select few parties can have access to government. This is how the troubles in the north began. You are telling me that you want to import old northern apartheid state down to Dublin? And were the the 1st dail full of rebels and republicans??
@MK76: “Sinnfeinologist” is not going to catch on as an insult no matter how many times you use it across your multiple accounts. It’s not even annoying.It just make you look like you’ve a poor understanding of the English language. Besides it’s not half as catchy as, say “Blueshirt”… You know… what FG call themselves to remind us all of their origins as they goose stepped through the streets of Ireland…
@Michael Collins: Oh spare us all the amateur dramatics.
Clearly nothing stopping The Sinnfeinologists looking to be elected. However the vast majority of the voting public in The Republic won’t touch them because of their toxic past and their complete unwillingness and inability to fess up to and move on from, their shady past.
@Vigo the Carpathian: So you Sinnfeinologists keep telling me Vigo. The irony of that is just delicious.
@MK76: “amateur dramatics” your blueshirt tendencies are coming out of you come on boys hoist the blue and red st Patrick’s flag up . Well most of us in the republic don’t really care about the past. All we care about is what’s happening now.
@Michael Collins: People like him would happily go back to the days of tit for tat killings and mass casualty bombings just so they could point the finger across the Dail for political “oneupmanship”..
@Vigo the Carpathian: yes i agree. It’s disgusting. As I assume he is in the South. I could not imagine living up there through the troubles. It must have been horrifying
@Michael Collins: seems you just don’t care about The Sinnfeinologist’s past, as you have a lot to say about other’s. Best you do ignore the Sinnfeinologists’ past. It’s disgraceful.
@MK76: I mean you’d so many juicy suffixes to go with… and the best you could come up with was “ologist”… usually referring to the study of something.. Actually you’re right… we do study SF.. along with everything else that happened with regards to the troubles and not just parrot the crap fed to us from the fraperoom…
@MK76: oh no they all have pasts. But if we dwell on the past nothing can be done. How many people were killed under the Free State army during the civil war ? And we all know which parties are responsible for that ??
@MK76: It was indeed an explicit part of the agreement that there would be a “turning a blind eye” to the “sins of the past”. Forgetting was not possible for those who were directly hurt. That was deeply painful for those most affected. The challenge is that sectarianism is so deeply ingrained that both sides have a strong tendancy to lapse into the mindset of thinking that the “sins” of my side should be overlooked, accepted as mistakes or part of “what happens in war” while the “sins” of their side must never be forgotten and prosecuted to the uttermost. The agreement was hard won and costly for many. Its lessons should not be forgotten. We owe a great debt to those who made it happen irrespective of anything else they did or failed to do in other parts of their lives or careers.
@MK76:
“Well it’s being used as a carte blanche by The Sinnfeinologists to forget the sins of their past.”
How, exactly?
@MK76: LOL, you don’t do irony, do ya?
@Vigo the Carpathian: He is a funny little individual all the same.
He thinks there’s a church too…
Care in the community, that’s what we do by keeping him busy.
For free!
@MK76: the republican movement has honoured every agreement and pact which they agreed to. Bill Clinton is on record as saying ‘ SF were tough to negotiate with and held firm on their mandate, but when they made agreements they delivered on them’.
Britian, Unionism and FF/FG cannot claim the same!
@G O’Rourke: Ha.
This from person who a) was giving me sh*t earlier in week about using atrocities for political gain and b) spewing their outrage about “ad hominem” comments, all over these forums.
Apart from showing your gross levels of crassness, you’re either too dumb or unbelievably hypocritical to have thought that through.
A true believer in The Church of Sinnfeinology.
@MK76: In your own time, MK.
GFA is 1974 Sunningdale agreement for slow learners….Deal was reached after SF and DUP between then had destroyed the moderate Unionist and Nationalist parties…..
@pc_comments: what moderate parties ?, I can only think of alliance
@Michael Collins: SDLP which grew out of civil rights movement and UUP both moderate…..
@pc_comments:
The shift to the extremes was encouraged by the British governments and worked initially. And in the end, the people themselves voted for these parties, seeing it in the end as in their best interests. The North is at peace, but more tribal than ever.
@pc_comments:
“GFA is 1974 Sunningdale agreement for slow learners” such a clichéd bit of bull5h1t.
The Sunningdale Agreement didn’t even contain the word equality once ffs.
@Tír Eoghain Gael: Think he read that in the Indo.
I’ve seen it there a few times…
@G O’Rourke: I believe Seamus Mallon was the originator of that phrase.
Why is this commemorated today? It was signed on 10th April, which just happened to be Good Friday that year. Why should a historic anniversary not be recalled on its calendar anniversary, not on some movable Church day calculated according to the feicin’ moon?
@John Considine: Maybe they should have called it the ’10th of April’ agreement?
Get over yourself.
Great article full of facts!
its an agreement to open the pubs in good friday. so there ya have it
There is a whole generation of Irish men and women who had no vote in enacting this and who are now of voting age. Is it time to ask the question again?
@James Le Fleur: I be more worried the brexit will upset this agreement
@James Le Fleur:
What question?
@P.J. Nolan: the question was: should we give regional power to the extremist parties, particularly the minority nationalist party, in Northern Ireland in exchange for them stopping killing other people in the UK and Ireland? That was the crux of our question. We were sick of people we knew being shot, and the GFA was the compromise. One has to put up with sinn Fein and the DUP arrogantly claiming the won something on the back of this, but in the main they have stopped murdering, so we put up with it, and would put up with it again.
@James Le Fleur: What a ridiculous comment. What upsets you about the GFA? There’s also a whole generation of young people up the North and down the South that doesn’t know what it was like to turn on the news every night and hear about shootings and bombings. You could get a bullet in the head because of your religion. You want to go back to those days
@Gulliver Foyle: BS!
Mk76/Michael Collins I wonder would Tony Blair be welcome in your Est Belfast neighbourhood today?The last time he visited he was spat at and called a traitor by your neighbours in the Connswater shopping centre.The poor man was visibly shocked and had to whisked out a back door for his own safety.He certainly did not deserve that level of abuse.
@joe oneill: He certainly didn’t deserve that. After all, he didn’t lie about weapons of mass destruction in Northern Ireland and bomb it back to the stone age.
@joe oneill: well joe I disagree with someone being attacked. You must call out stupidity. Debate is the way to go. The problems in these communities they are ill educated.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: announcing he had family connections in Donegal and then turning up in the Connswater Water shopping centre was not the brightest of moves.Maybe if the knuckledraggers showed him a bit of gratitude,decency Est Belfast would not be the slum it is today.
@Michael Collins/Mk76 I understand why you would
try to hide your loyalist/unionist beliefs on a public forum,who wouldn’t in all fairness.But the day will come soon when you won’t have to pass yourself of as a blueshirt,I can see the uup merging with FG and running candidates in your Est Belfast constituency in an effort to halt SF.
@joe oneill: you calling me a loyalist unionist?
@Michael Collins: Pay no heed to Joe. If your comments make him sad he delves deep into his bag of boogeymen labels and throws them at people. Its bizaare.
It still makes me feel very happy and very proud to be Irish. Yes, there’s sadly no assembly now and we’re in an awful situation where the DUP hold the balance of power of Westminster at the most awful time BUT the agreement itself was and is a victory for the vast majority of people on this island who believe in reconciliation and peace. There’s absolutely nothing that can’t be solved through speaking and listening around a table and peace is a positive sum game.
According to the Good Friday Agreement the Deputy first minister should be a nationalist. Who is the deputy first minister at the moment?
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