25 Years of the Good Friday Agreement

Considering what a big deal it was at the time, there is surprisingly little comment in the United States about the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which helped close the era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Although the European Union often gets credited for making peace possible, the heavy diplomatic lifting was done by America, along with the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Ireland under Bertie Ahern. Former Maine senator George Mitchell played the key role in brokering the agreement. The GFA led to a release of violent republican and loyalist paramilitary members. It required the IRA to decommission its weapons. The Republic of Ireland removed its irredentist claims upon Northern Ireland from its constitution. The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland granted to have, at an unspecified point in the future, “border polls”– votes on both sides of the Irish border that could lead to Irish unity. And it reformed — some would allege, denuded — Northern Ireland’s institutions. For instance, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was replaced with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The Queen’s crown was removed from the uniforms. Crucially, it reformed Northern Ireland’s devolved Parliament, Stormont, and required a power-sharing arrangement where Unionists and Nationalists would each be able to check each other and nothing could pass without the other community’s consent.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Considering what a big deal it was at the time, there is surprisingly little comment in the United States about the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which helped close the era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Although the European Union often gets credited for making peace possible, the heavy diplomatic lifting was done by America, along with the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Ireland under Bertie Ahern. Former Maine senator George Mitchell played the key role in brokering the agreement. The GFA led to a release of violent republican and loyalist paramilitary members. It required the IRA to decommission its weapons. The Republic of Ireland removed its irredentist claims upon Northern Ireland from its constitution. The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland granted to have, at an unspecified point in the future, “border polls”– votes on both sides of the Irish border that could lead to Irish unity. And it reformed — some would allege, denuded — Northern Ireland’s institutions. For instance, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was replaced with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The Queen’s crown was removed from the uniforms. Crucially, it reformed Northern Ireland’s devolved Parliament, Stormont, and required a power-sharing arrangement where Unionists and Nationalists would each be able to check each other and nothing could pass without the other community’s consent.