Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, April 12, 2018

UK-Ireland Good Friday Agreement

By now you know that Ireland is not part of the UK. Northern Ireland is.

You should also know that the conflict between Ireland and the UK (Northern Ireland) was long and bloody.

The first time I went to London (30 years ago), there were signs everywhere alerting people to avoid and report unaccompanied packages, since there was an IRA campaign of bombing going on. The conflict had been going on for at least a couple generations before that.

The Good Friday Agreement brought an end to the violence.

What is the Good Friday Agreement?

The Good Friday Agreement, The Belfast Agreement.

An agreement that can't even agree on its own name - the irony.

Northern Ireland has lived with this agreement for 20 years and its name (in whatever form) is never far from the tips of our politicians' tongues.

But do younger people, who have never experienced life without it, even know what it is?

"The talks that ended the Troubles... I think."

That was among the responses offered cautiously when BBC News NI asked young people - some as young as 18 - 'What is the Good Friday Agreement?'…

The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 after intense negotiations between the UK government, the Irish government and Northern Ireland political parties.

Among other things, it set up a power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly.

Other main points in the agreement were:

A council was to be set up to help Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland work together on matters like farming and health.

A council was to be set up to promote the relationship between Britain and Ireland. In pop culture terms, this would be like Liam and Noel Gallagher arranging an Oasis reunion to put their troublesome past behind them.

Dual British and Irish citizenship - to allow the people of Northern Ireland to hold either a British or Irish passport, or both.

However, the agreement also came with its own wave of controversy.

Part of it would see the early release of paramilitary prisoners who had been in Northern Ireland jails.

Some 428 paramilitary prisoners from both sides of the community were to walk free, 143 of them had been serving life sentences for things like murders and bombings.

A referendum (similar to Brexit, but definitely not Brexit) was held on both sides of the Irish border for the people to decide whether or not they wanted the agreement.

The result? A resounding 'Yes'.

Some 71% voted in favour of the agreement in Northern Ireland and 94% voted in favour of it in the Republic of Ireland.

After elections in June of 1998, the all-new Northern Ireland Assembly was formed.

It met for the first time on 1 July and David Trimble and Seamus Mallon were elected as first and deputy first ministers.

See also: Good Friday Agreement - 20 years on

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Labels: Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland, politics, UK

Thursday, March 09, 2017

It's not just in Scotland that Brexit is causing change

Besides the three kingdoms of the UK there's Northern Ireland. None of the non-England territories voted for Brexit, but the prospect is causing political change throughout the country.

Northern Ireland Voters Give Sinn Fein Its Biggest Win Ever

Sinn Fein, the main Catholic nationalist party in Northern Ireland, won its greatest share of legislative seats ever after a snap election this weekend, creating a virtual tie with its Protestant rivals and throwing nearly two decades of peaceful power sharing into turmoil.

The election comes at a time of increased polarization and fears that Britain’s planned exit from the European Union could lead to customs and security checks along the border with Ireland, economic strife and a return to sectarian conflict. Never before has the Protestant majority, which has used its status to shape social policy and defeat a ballot on merging with Ireland, been so threatened politically.

Sinn Fein won 27 of 90 available posts in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Its rival, the Democratic Unionist Party, made up of Protestants who support remaining a part of Britain, lost 10 seats and were left with 28.

Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to the decades-long sectarian strife known as the Troubles, Catholics and Protestants share governance of the region, along with the British government. The two parties must now form a new government within the next three weeks or else return to a period of “direct rule” from Britain…

The Democratic Unionist Party is allied with Britain’s Conservative Party, which is pursuing Brexit, while Sinn Fein wants Northern Ireland to stay in the European Union and eventually merge with Ireland.

There is also growing indignation about a perceived lack of concern from London about Northern Ireland…

If the two leading parties do not reach agreement within the three-week time frame imposed by the British-appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, the government must either call another election or reimpose direct rule.