Northern Ireland |
This article is part of the series: |
|
NI in the UK
NI in the EU
|
Politics portal |
---|
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste or Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta; Ulster-Scots: Bilfawst Greeance or Guid Friday Greeance)[1] — also sometimes called the Stormont Agreement — was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. The Agreement was made up of two inter-related documents, both signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 (Good Friday): a multi-party agreement by most of Northern Ireland's political parties, and an international agreement between the British and Irish governments. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Agreement.
The Agreement set out a complex series of provisions relating to a number of areas, including: the future status and system of government within Northern Ireland; the relationship between Northern Ireland and institutions in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom; human rights; the principle of respect for each of Northern Ireland's communities and their traditions; the decommissioning of arms held by the various paramilitary groups, the release of members of paramilitary groups from prison; and the normalisation of British security arrangements within Northern Ireland.
The Agreement was approved by voters in Northern Ireland at a referendum held on 23 May 1998, while on the same day the Agreement was tacitly approved by voters in the Republic of Ireland at a referendum to amend the Constitution in conformity with the Agreement.
The Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999.[2][3] The present constitutional status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland's devolved system of government (made up of the Northern Ireland Assembly and a joint executive based on cross-community power-sharing) are based on the Agreement, as well as on the St Andrews Agreement of 2006.
Contents |
Structure of the Agreement
The Agreement is an international agreement between the British and Irish governments. It comprises two elements: the legal agreement between the two governments and a more substantive agreement between eight political parties and the two governments. That former text is very short. It has just four articles.[3] It is that short text which is the legal agreement. The Northern Ireland political parties were not involved in its negotiation. However, the short legal agreement incorporates in its Schedules the latter agreement reached by the eight political parties (the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, the Progressive Unionist Party, the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, the Ulster Democratic Party and the Labour Group) and the two governments.[3] Technically, this Scheduled agreement can be distinguished as the multi-party agreement as opposed to the Belfast Agreement itself.[3]
Provisions in detail
General provisions
- The multi-party agreement commits its participants:
- to "partnership, equality and mutual respect" as the basis for relations within Northern Ireland, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and "between these islands";
- to "exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences on political issues";
- to oppose "any use or threat of force by others for any political purpose".
- The various "institutional and constitutional arrangements" set out in the Agreement are also stated to be "interlocking and interdependent".
Constitutional issues
- The Agreement acknowledged and recognised:
- that the majority of the people of Northern Ireland at the time wished to remain as part of the United Kingdom, and that Northern Ireland's present and continuing status as part of the United Kingdom was a reflection of that wish;
- that a "substantial section" of the people of Northern Ireland, and the majority "of the people of the island of Ireland", wished to bring about a united Ireland;
- that both views were legitimate;
- that it was only for the people of Ireland as a whole, by agreement between North and South, "to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given", to bring about a united Ireland;
- that any future change in the status of Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom is only to be brought about by the freely exercised choice of "a majority of the people of Northern Ireland";
- and that the British and Irish governments are under "a binding obligation" to implement that choice.
- The Agreement also "affirm[s]" that whether as part of the United Kingdom, or in future as a part of a united Ireland, the relevant government with authority over Northern Ireland shall exercise its authority there "with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and shall be founded on the principles of full respect for, and equality of, civil, political, social and cultural rights, of freedom from discrimination for all citizens, and of parity of esteem and of just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos, and aspirations of both communities".
- The "birthright" of all the people of Northern Ireland "to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both", is also recognised, as well as their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship; and that these rights are not to be affected should Northern Ireland become a part of a united Ireland.
- The British government was committed to secure the repeal by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
- The Irish government was committed to secure the amendment of Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland, which asserted a territorial claim to Northern Ireland, and to amend Section 29 of the Constitution so as to give authority to the cross-border institutions to be set up under the Agreement.
"Strand One"
- The Agreement sets out a framework for the creation and functioning of:
- the Northern Ireland Assembly, with mandatory "cross-community" voting on certain major decisions; and
- a power-sharing executive, with ministerial portfolios to be allocated between parties by the d'Hondt method.
"Strand Two"
- The Agreement established a "North-South Ministerial Council", made up of ministers from the governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, "to develop consultation, co-operation and action" on issues of mutual interest, and provided for the existence of North-South "implementation bodies" to deal with specific cross-border issues.
"Strand Three"
- The Agreement also established:
- a "British-Irish Council", to be made up of ministerial representatives from the British and Irish governments, the governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and from the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey; and
- a British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, to be held regularly between the British and Irish governments to discuss "non-devolved Northern Ireland matters", in recognition of the latter government's "special interest in Northern Ireland", and replacing the existing bodies established under the 1985 "Anglo-Irish Agreement".
Human rights, etc.
- The multi-party agreement affirmed a commitment to "the mutual respect, the civil rights and the religious liberties of everyone in the community".
- The British government committed to incorporate the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) into the law of Northern Ireland, to the establishment of a Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and "as a particular priority" to set down a statutory obligation upon all "public authorities" in Northern Ireland to carry out their work "with due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity in relation to religion and political opinion; gender; race; disability; age; marital status; dependants; and sexual orientation".
- The Irish government committed to "[taking] steps to further the protection of human rights in its jurisdiction", and to the establishment of a human rights commission.
- The multi-party agreement recognised "the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity", especially in relation to the Irish language, Ulster Scots, and the languages of Northern Ireland's ethnic minorities, "all of which are part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland".
Decommissioning, security, and prisoners
- The multi-party agreement committed the parties to "use any influence they may have" to bring about the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years of the referendums approving the Agreement
- The British government committed to bringing to "normal" its security arrangements, including:
- the reduction in the number of its armed forces deployed in Northern Ireland, and the reduction of the role of those forces, "to levels compatible with a normal peaceful society";
- the removal of security installations; and
- the removal of special emergency powers in Northern Ireland.
- Both the British and Irish governments committed to the early release of prisoners serving sentences in connection with the activities of paramilitary groups, provided that those groups continued to maintain "a complete and unequivocal ceasefire".
- The Irish government also committed to a "wide-ranging review" of its "Offences against the State" legislation.
Policing and justice
- The Agreement called for the establishment of an independent commission to review policing arrangements in Northern Ireland, "including [the] means of encouraging widespread community support" for those arrangements.
- The British government also committed to a "wide-ranging review" of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.
Implementation
- Both the British and Irish governments committed to organising referendums on 22 May 1998 in Northern Ireland and across the Republic respectively: the Northern Ireland referendum to explicitly approve the Agreement, the Irish referendum to approve the constitutional amendments required by the Agreement.
Vague wording of some of the provisions (described as "constructive ambiguity"),[4] which helped ensure acceptance of the agreement at the time, served to postpone debate on some of the more contentious issues—most notably paramilitary decommissioning, police reform and normalisation. A date of May 2000 was set for total disarming of all paramilitary groups. This was not achieved and delayed the establishment of the Assembly and Executive,[5] because of claims by unionists that one of the main parties in the Assembly, Sinn Féin had links with the paramilitary group, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In line with those claims, unionists refused to share power with this party while the IRA remained armed. In September 2005, the IRA decommissioned their weapons.[6]
Referendums
In May 1998, there were separate referendums concerning the Belfast Agreement. The referendum in Northern Ireland was a direct vote on the Agreement, while the vote in the Republic of Ireland was a vote to amend the Irish constitution in line with the Belfast Agreement.
The result of these referendums was a large majority in both parts of Ireland in favour of the Agreement. In the Republic, 56% of the electorate voted, with 94% of the votes in favour of the amendment to the Constitution. The turnout in Northern Ireland was 81%, with 71% of the votes in favour of the Agreement.
In the Republic, the electorate voted upon the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. This amendment both permitted the state to comply with the Belfast Agreement and provided for the removal of the 'territorial claim' contained in Articles 2 and 3. Ireland voted upon the Amsterdam Treaty on the same day. The results of the two simultaneous referendums on the Belfast Agreement were as follows:
Turnout | Yes | No | Totals | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Ireland | 81% | 676,966 (71%) | 274,879 (29%) | 951,845 (100%) |
Republic of Ireland | 56% | 1,442,583 (94%) | 85,748 (6%) | 1,528,331 (100%) |
Agreement comes into effect
Direct London rule came to an end in Northern Ireland when power was formally devolved to the new Northern Ireland Assembly, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council when commencement orders for the British-Irish Agreement came into effect on 2 December.[7][8][9] However, Article 4(2) of the British-Irish Agreement (the Agreement between the British and Irish governments for the implementation of the Belfast Agreement) required the two governments to notify each other in writing of the completion of the requirements for the entry into force of the Belfast Agreement.[10] Entry into force was to be upon the receipt of the latter of the two notifications. The British government agreed to participate in a televised ceremony at Iveagh House in Dublin, the Irish department of foreign affairs. Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, attended early on 2 December 1999. He exchanged notifications with David Andrews, the Irish foreign minister. Shortly after the ceremony, at 10.30 am, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern signed the declaration formally amending Articles 2 & 3 of the Irish Constitution. He then announced to the Dáil that the British-Irish Agreement had entered into force (including certain supplementary agreements concerning the Belfast Agreement).[3][11]
History of implementation
The Assembly and Executive were eventually established in December 1999 on the understanding that decommissioning would begin immediately, but were suspended within two months due to lack of progress, before being re-established in May 2000 as Provisional IRA decommissioning eventually began. Aside from the decommissioning issue, however, ongoing paramilitary activity (albeit relatively low level compared to the past) by the Provisional Irish Republican Army — e.g., arms importations, smuggling, organised crime, "punishment beatings", intelligence-gathering and rioting — was also a stumbling block. The loyalist paramilitaries also continued similar activity although as they were not represented by a significant political party, their position was less central to political change.
The overall result of these problems was to damage confidence among unionists in the Agreement, which was exploited by the anti-Agreement DUP which eventually defeated the pro-Agreement Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in the 2003 Assembly election. The UUP had already resigned from the power-sharing Executive in 2002 following arrests of Sinn Féin personnel on charges of gathering intelligence for use by terrorists. These charges were eventually dropped in 2005 on the controversial grounds that pursuit would not be "in the public interest". Immediately afterwards, one of the accused Sinn Féin members, Denis Donaldson was exposed as a British agent.
In 2004, negotiations were held between the two governments, the DUP, and Sinn Féin on an agreement to re-establish the institutions. These talks failed, but a document published by the governments detailing changes to the Belfast Agreement became known as the 'Comprehensive Agreement'. On 26 September 2005, however, it was announced that the Provisional Irish Republican Army had completely decommissioned its arsenal of weapons and "put them beyond use". Nonetheless, many unionists, most notably the DUP, remained sceptical and agreement on how to restore the power-sharing assembly still had not been reached as of July 2006. Of the loyalist paramilitaries, only the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) had decommissioned any weapons.[12] Further negotiations took place in October 2006, leading to the St Andrews Agreement.
In May 2007, a power sharing executive was again established to govern Northern Ireland in devolved matters. The second Northern Ireland Executive consisted of the DUP and Sinn Féin, with Ian Paisley of the DUP as First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin as Deputy First Minister. Although Paisley was the head of the government, he and Martin McGuinness held equal powers within the Northern Ireland Assembly government.
Paisley retired from the office of First Minister and from the leadership of the DUP on 5 June 2008 and was succeeded in both functions by Peter Robinson. In the third Northern Ireland Executive the same political relationship now exists between Robinson and McGuinness as existed formerly between Paisley and McGuinness.
Similarities and differences with the Sunningdale Agreement
Some commentators have referred to the Agreement as "Sunningdale for slow learners", which suggests that it was nothing more than what was on offer in the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973.[13] This assertion has been criticised by political scientists one of whom stated that "..there are... significant differences between them [Sunningdale and Belfast], both in terms of content and the circumstances surrounding their negotiation, implementation, and operation".[14] The main issues omitted by Sunningdale and addressed by the Belfast agreement are the principle of self-determination, the recognition of both national identities, the British-Irish intergovernmental cooperation and the legal procedures to make power-sharing mandatory, such as the cross-community vote and the d'Hondt system to appoint ministers to the executive.[15][16] Former IRA member and journalist Tommy McKearney says that the main difference is the intention of the British government to broker a comprehensive deal by including the IRA and the most uncompromising unionism.[17]
See also
- Northern Ireland Act 1998
- Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
- St Andrews Agreement
- Northern Ireland peace process
- Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland
- Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
- Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains
- Commissioner for Victims and Survivors of the Troubles
- Castle Buildings
- Sunningdale Agreement
- Anglo-Irish Agreement
- Downing Street Declaration
References
- ^ North-South Ministerial Council: Annual Report (2001) in Ulster Scots
- ^ "Address by Mr David Andrews, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Exchange of Notifications ceremony at Iveagh House, Dublin, 2 December 1999". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/da21299.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ a b c d e Austen Morgan (2000). "The Belfast Agreement - a practical legal analysis". Conflict Archive on the INternet (CAIN). http://www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/morgan/index.html#fn48. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
- ^ Aughey, Arthur: The politics of Northern Ireland: beyond the Belfast Agreement. Routledge, 2005, page 148. ISBN 0-415-32788-1
- ^ McCormack, W. J.: The Blackwell companion to modern Irish culture. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, page 637. ISBN 0-631-22817-9
- ^ "IRA 'has destroyed all its arms'". BBC. 26 September 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4283444.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-2010.
- ^ "BRITISH-IRISH AGREEMENT ACT, 1999 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER, 1999, S.I. No. 377 of 1999". Irishstatutebook.ie. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0377.html. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "BRITISH-IRISH AGREEMENT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1999 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER, 1999". Irishstatutebook.ie. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0378.html. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Appointed Day) Order 1999". Opsi.gov.uk. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19993208.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "Text of the British-Irish Agreement (as distinct from the Belfast Agreement)". .british-irishcouncil.org. 1985-11-15. http://www3.british-irishcouncil.org/documents/text.asp. Retrieved 2010-01-28.[dead link]
- ^ "BBC website -A State Apart". Bbc.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/history/stateapart/agreement/constitutional/constitutional1.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "Latest News | Paramilitary arms destroyed". BBC News. 1998-12-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/latest_news/238229.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ Ó Ceallaigh, Daltún, Along The road to Irish unity?
- ^ Wilford, Rick (2001).Context and Content: Sunningdale and Belfast Compared. Oxford University Press, p.1
- ^ Wilford, pp. 4-5
- ^ Daugherty Rasnic, Carol (2003). Northern Ireland: can Sean and John live in peace? Brandylane Publishers Inc, p. 173. ISBN 1-883911-55-9
- ^ McKearney, Tommy (2011) The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament. Pluto Press, p. 184. ISBN 978-0-7453-3074-7
External links
- Full text of the Belfast Agreement
- North-South Ministerial Council/An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh/Theas
- British-Irish Council[dead link]
- Irish Government - British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference
- Inside Out: An Integrative Critique of the Northern Ireland Peace Process[dead link] U.S. Institute of Peace July 2006
- Address given at the Exchange of Notifications ceremony, whereby the Republic of Ireland dropped its territorial claim to Northern Ireland, Iveagh House, Dublin, 2 December 1999
|
|