Who Was Responsible for the Good Friday Agreement

The agreement came after many years of complex discussions, proposals and compromises. Many people have made a great contribution. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern were at the time leaders of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The talks were led by US Special Envoy George Mitchell. [3] Referendums were held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, people were asked, „Do you support the agreement reached in the multi-party talks on Northern Ireland and set out in Command Document 3883?“ Turnout in the referendum was 81.1%, of which 71.1% supported the agreement. Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, attended early in the morning of 2 December 1999. He exchanged views with David Andrews, Ireland`s foreign minister. Shortly after the ceremony, at 10.30.m., the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, signed the declaration formally amending Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. He then announced to Dáil that the British-Irish Agreement had entered into force (including certain agreements additional to the Belfast Agreement). [7] [19] 2. Participants also note that, therefore, as part of this comprehensive political agreement, both Governments have committed to propose and support amendments to the Constitution of Ireland and to the United Kingdom legislation on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. The agreement provides administrative support to the Citizens` Forum and establishes guidelines for the selection of citizens` representatives.

The agreement reached was that Northern Ireland was and would remain a part of the United Kingdom until a majority of the population of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland wanted something else. If this happens, the UK and Irish governments will have a „binding obligation“ to implement this decision. The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance)[1] is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that has followed since the late 1960s. This was an important development in the peace process in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. Northern Ireland`s current system of devolved government is based on the agreement. The Agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, contained in the UK`s withdrawal agreement from the EU, reaffirmed that the Good Friday Agreement must be protected in its entirety. In January 2017, Martin McGuinness resigned from office in protest at a political scandal surrounding new Premier Arlene Foster, causing the collapse of executive power. He also highlighted the long-term problems where the DUP does not respect the commitments to fundamental equality set out in its agreements. 23.

As a condition of appointment, Ministers, including the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, reaffirm the terms of an ex officio promise (Appendix A) in which they undertake to carry out effectively and in good faith all responsibilities associated with their duties. In August, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, linked to the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) paramilitary group, announced a ceasefire and an end to its 23 years of violence. Nevertheless, the group continued to oppose the peace agreement signed in April.5 The ceasefire was maintained for the rest of the year. In addition, the UK government has committed to creating a new statutory equality commission to replace the Fair Employment Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission (NI), the Racial Equality Commission (NI) and the Disability Council. The establishment of the Equality Commission was provided for in the Northern Ireland Act (1998). The Commission was finally established on 1 March 19992 „The Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission“, BBC News, May 2006, accessed 21 January 2013, www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/equality/hr2.shtm. was put into operation on 1 September 1999.3 „The Good Friday Agreement: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland“, BBC News, May 2006, accessed 21 January 2013, www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/equality/equality. In the context of political violence during the unrest, the agreement committed to „exclusively democratic and peaceful means of settling disputes over political issues.“ Two aspects were taken into account: the two main political parties in the agreement were the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) under the leadership of David Trimble and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) under the leadership of John Hume.

The two Heads of State and Government jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998. The other parties involved in reaching a deal were Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the Progressive Unionist Party. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which later became the largest Unionist party, did not support the deal. She left the talks when Sinn Féin and the loyalist parties joined because republican and loyalist paramilitary weapons had not been downgraded. In recent days, Mr Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern travelled to Belfast to take part in the talks, and the deal was finally reached on the afternoon of 10 September. It was announced in April 1998 by George Mitchell. 1. The participants recall their agreement in the point of order adopted on 24 September 1997 „that the resolution of the issue of decommissioning is an indispensable element of the negotiation process“ and also recall the provisions of paragraph 25 of part 1. The agreement establishes a framework for the establishment and number of institutions in three „policy areas“.

Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Féin Republican Party, and his deputy Martin McGuinness, who would later become Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, played a key role in the deal. John Morrison explains their journey from members of the Provisional IRA to Sinn Féin leaders. Northern Ireland`s political parties in favour of the agreement were also invited to consider the establishment of an independent civil society advisory forum composed of members with expertise in the social, cultural, economic and other fields, appointed by both governments. A framework for the North-South Consultation Forum was agreed in 2002 and in 2006 the Northern Ireland Executive agreed that it would support its establishment. 2. Institutions with implementing powers and functions shared between those courts may be established by their respective competent authorities for specific purposes and may exercise powers and functions in respect of all or part of the island. The Good Friday Agreement provided for an elected assembly of 108 members in Northern Ireland. The Assembly would be able to exercise executive and legislative power and would be subject to safeguards to protect the rights and interests of all parts of the Community. According to the Agreement, the Assembly should be elected according to the system of single transferable votes of proportional representation. In a spirit of safeguarding the interests and rights of all parties, the agreement also provided for a proportional distribution of committee members in the Assembly. The idea of the agreement was to get the two sides to work together in a group called the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The Assembly would take certain decisions previously taken by the British Government in London. Throughout the year, the main paramilitary groups on both sides respected the ceasefire. A dissident group critical of the regime, the Ira Continuity, went up in flames on July 7. February 2000, a bomb at the Mahon Hotel in Irvinestown.1 Dissident groups opposed to the peace agreement threatened peace in Northern Ireland.2 The agreement was reached between the British and Irish governments and eight political parties or groups in Northern Ireland. Three were representative of unionism: the Ulster Unionist Party, which had led unionism in Ulster since the beginning of the 20th century, and two small parties associated with loyalist paramilitaries, the Progressive Unionist Party (associated with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)) and the Ulster Democratic Party (the political wing of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)). .