Good Friday Agreement (GFA)

• The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in the Northern Ireland.

Reason behind the Conflict

• The Troubles were the ethno-Nationalist conflict of the Northern Ireland that started in 1960s and lasted till 1998, for about 30 years.
• The conflict is also known as Northern Ireland Conflict. It sometimes referred as an Irregular War or Low Level War.
• The conflict was political and nationalistic in nature. The key issue was the status of Northern Ireland.
• The two groups were involved, first, the Unionists and loyalists; who were Protestants, wanted the Northern Ireland to remain within the UK. Second group, the Irish Nationalists and republicans, who were mostly Irish Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a United Ireland.
• It was not a religious conflict though the term ‘Protestant’ and ‘Catholic’ was used.

Outcomes of the Agreement

• Issues related to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, demilitarisation, justice and policing were central to the agreement.
• The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998.
• The Agreement gives prominence to the ‘principle of consent’ which affirms the legitimacy of the aspiration to a United Ireland while recognising the current wish of the majority in Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
• The Agreement put in place a framework to establish a number of political institutions.
  • The Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive – for power sharing between elected political parties.
  • The North South Ministerial Council – to develop co-operation between both parts of Ireland.
  • The British-Irish Council – to promote the relationship between Ireland and Britain.

Since the Good Friday Agreement

Since the conclusion of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, it has been necessary to pursue a series of successive further political and legal agreements to consolidate the peace settlement provided for in the GFA.

• In 2006, the St. Andrew’s Agreement was signed for full devolution of policing and justice.
• In 2010, the Hillsborough Agreement was signed to allow for the devolution of policing and justice powers.
• In 2014, the Stormont House Agreement was signed for twin aims of reconciliation and economic renewal in Northern Ireland.
• In 2020, the New Decade, New Approach agreement was proposed to make politics and government in Northern Ireland more transparent, accountable, stable, inclusive and effective.