Essay: Good Friday Agreement – the early 1990s back-channel between the IRA and British Government that made peace possible
In an article published on The Conversation, NIALL Ó DOCHARTAIGH, professor of political science at the University of Galway, looks at the role a back-channel of communication played in the peace process…
Pope hopes Northern Ireland accord can be “consolidated” to benefit all Ireland
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis said on Monday he was praying that the Good Friday Agreement signed 25 years ago that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland can be “consolidated” to benefit the people of all of Ireland. Francis made the comment about the 1998 agreement, which has come under strain following Britain’s exit from […]
Work to be done, PM Sunak says 25 years after Northern Irish peace deal
London, UK Reuters A quarter of century since the signing of a peace deal that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government central to the accord. Signed in Belfast on 10th April, 1998, the Good Friday agreement is considered one […]
Northern Ireland victims’ families feel justice further away then ever
Belfast, Northern IrelandReuters The Good Friday Agreement largely ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland, but for many relatives of the more than 3,600 people killed the peace accord has offered little closure over the past 25 years. In a short section, the deal said it was essential to address the suffering of victims […]
Reconciliation and community-building: Grassroots faith leaders navigate a Northern Ireland in flux
PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on how faith leaders are continuing the work of bringing separated communities together…
“Extraordinary rollercoaster”, Good Friday talks remembered 25 years on
Belfast, UKReuters On 7th April, 1998, the head of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party drafted a letter to the British Prime Minister announcing that he was leaving talks and that the latest attempt to end three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland was over. Three days later one of the most significant peace deals of […]
Rishi Sunak strikes post-Brexit Northern Ireland deal with EU
London, UKReuters British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struck a new deal with the European Union on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland on Monday, saying it would pave the way for a new chapter in London’s relationship with the bloc. Standing alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a news conference in Windsor, […]
Essay: Northern Ireland census shows more Catholics than Protestants – a political scientist on what this really means
LAURENCE COOLEY, of University of Birmingham, explores – in an article first published on The Conversation, what the latest statistics on religious affiliation in Northern Ireland mean…
Northern Ireland has more Catholics than Protestants for first time
Belfast, Northern Ireland Reuters Northern Ireland has more Catholics than Protestants for the first time, census results showed on Thursday, a historic shift that some see as likely to help drive support for the region to split from Britain and join a united Ireland. The shift comes a century after the Northern Ireland state was […]
Essay: Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne at a time of deep religious divisions and worked to bring tolerance
In an article first published on The Conversation, JOANNE M PIERCE, of the College of the Holy Cross in the US, says that in order to appreciate the significance of the Queen’s efforts at encouraging religious tolerance, we must first understand the complicated history of religion in the UK…