Good Friday Agreement

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

Relations have never been as bad with UK government ministers: Varadkar

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he believes the UK is not being ‘even handed’ over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

British government ‘destroying trust’ with protocol actions - ex Downing Street chief of staff

Former Downing Street chief of staff Jonathan Powell said the relationship between the two governments was ‘terrible’.

<p>British prime minister Tony Blair and taoiseach Bertie Ahern sign the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998: Mr Ahern said it had been very successful in ending the political violence but it has not been as successful as he or Tony Blair had hoped it would be. Picture: RollingNews.ie/Pool</p>

politics

Bertie Ahern: Relations between Ireland and UK are 'badly damaged'

Former taoiseach said likelihood of a trade war between the EU and UK now 'a step or two closer' after British government moved to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol

politics

Legislation overriding Northern Ireland Protocol will be 'lawful', claims British ambassador

politics

British Labour leader Keir Starmer to visit Dublin and Belfast

comment-analysis

Derry Girls' Good Friday Agreement refresher offers a timely reminder of what's at stake

Convening citizens' assembly on border poll 'not even on Government's radar'

Simon Coveney dismisses suggestion that election results in the North have brought a border poll closer

Mon, 09 May, 2022

Micheál Martin: Peace and democracy cannot be taken for granted

Micheál Martin made the comments in a statement to mark the 24th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement

Sun, 10 Apr, 2022

Cancer knows no borders — neither should we

The all-Ireland cancer initiative which grew out of the Good Friday Agreement has resulted in a doubling of collaborative cancer research and cancer clinical trials which have saved thousands of lives

Thu, 31 Mar, 2022

Anglo-Irish relations under pressure as UK set to trigger Article 16 of post-Brexit deal

The Government is preparing for a worsening in Anglo-Irish relations, warning that the UK is set to trigger Article 16 of the post-Brexit trade deal.

Sun, 07 Nov, 2021

US political leaders visit Dublin to re-affirm support for Good Friday Agreement

As Brexit tensions continue this week between the EU and UK, the launch of the American Irish State Legislators Caucus took place on Monday in Dublin's Mansion House.

Mon, 11 Oct, 2021

Johnson joins Biden to reaffirm commitment to the Good Friday Agreement

Tensions remain about protocol as Coveney concedes there is 'some strain' in UK-Ireland relationships

Thu, 10 Jun, 2021

Aoife Moore: Analytical Cork man gives bombastic Boris a lesson in diplomacy

As a former teacher, the Taoiseach has plenty of experience dealing with class clowns who believe they know everything

Sat, 15 May, 2021

Lisa Smith wins court case fighting her exclusion from UK

She was served with a notice by the British Home Secretary to exclude her from the United Kingdom on the grounds of national security in December

Fri, 07 May, 2021

Fergus Finlay: We can’t vote away the fear and sectarianism built into the border

Partition built sectarianism into the polity of Northern Ireland. But it is through the Good Friday Agreement — not a border poll — that we will progress to a future built on consent

Tue, 06 Apr, 2021

Setting an early date for a border poll would be 'wrong' — Tánaiste

Leo Varadkar pushes back at calls for an imminent vote on a united Ireland and emphasises the need to talk to 'the middle ground'

Mon, 22 Mar, 2021

US President Joe Biden voices 'strong support' for Good Friday Agreement

President Biden: 'The political and economic stability of Northern Ireland is very much in the interest of all of our people'

Wed, 17 Mar, 2021

Renewed fears of violence in the North as tensions between London and Brussels escalate

There are fresh fears of violence erupting in Northern Ireland amid heightened political tensions between London and Belfast.

Fri, 05 Mar, 2021

Gulf widens between Dublin and London over 'solo run' on Northern Ireland protocol

Move prompted foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney to say the UK Government 'could not be trusted'

Thu, 04 Mar, 2021

Ahern: Border poll on united Ireland should be held in 2028

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that a border poll on a united Ireland should be held on the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mon, 01 Feb, 2021

Irish Examiner view: More than a majority is necessary

A poll on Irish reunification

Tue, 26 Jan, 2021

Letters to the Editor: Politicians aren’t our parents so buckle down

Political decisions in a global virus pandemic are all about “the thing that didn’t happen”. This is a nightmare for professional politicians. No road to tarmac. No manhole to cover. No planning application to boost or support.

Mon, 25 Jan, 2021

Daniel McConnell: Joe Biden wears his Irishness on his sleeve

Ireland has secured a friend in the Oval Office for the next four years

Wed, 20 Jan, 2021

Border Fox Dessie O'Hare dismisses legal team ahead of appeal against jail sentence

Former INLA man Dessie O'Hare, who was known as "The Border Fox", has dismissed his lawyers ahead of an appeal against the severity of his seven-year sentence for evicting a family from their home, which was due to take place next week.

Fri, 11 Dec, 2020

State couldn't fund Derry woman's legal battle over her 'foreign jurisdiction'

Emma DeSouza and husband owe £80,000 over case taken under the principles of the Good Friday Agreement

Thu, 01 Oct, 2020

Simon Coveney travels to Washington to discuss Brexit's impact on GFA

The Minister for Foreign Affairs is in Washington today and tomorrow for meetings on the peace process and Brexit. Simon Coveney will also hold talks on Ireland's seat at the UN Security Council - which the country takes up in January.

Tue, 29 Sep, 2020

16/04/2008 FORMER SDLP leader John Hume at the fun

Fergus Finlay: John Hume’s contribution to Irish peace, and to Ireland, unique and unmeasurable

He was the greatest advocate for peace based on mutual respect this country had ever known, writes Fergus Finlay

Tue, 04 Aug, 2020

Letter to the Editor: We have lost a real Irish hero with the death of John Hume

We have lost a real Irish hero with the passing of John Hume. He never killed anyone for his cause. He never encouraged others to do likewise. He never endorsed violence as the road to peace.

Tue, 04 Aug, 2020

John Hume: The end of the Unionist veto in Ulster

This essay by John Hume originally appeared in London Review of Books on February 2, 1989.

Mon, 03 Aug, 2020

Irish Examiner view: John Hume, the greatest Irishman of his time

John Hume 1937-2020

Mon, 03 Aug, 2020

SDLP leader John Hume is in buoyant mood, 21 May,

Colum Eastwood: Each and every one of us lives in the Ireland Hume imagined

The life of John Hume will forever be a blessing upon this island since Ireland is now blessed by the peace he gifted to us all, writes Colum Eastwood.

Mon, 03 Aug, 2020

Letter to the Editor: DUP tried to thwart the Good Friday Agreement

Unsurprisingly, the DUP have rejected the EU-UK Brexit agreement.

Mon, 21 Oct, 2019

Nancy Pelosi: Good Friday Agreement treasured as 'beacon to the world'

Our two nations may be divided by distance but are united by history.

Wed, 17 Apr, 2019

US has a vested interest in Irish peace, says Nancy Pelosi

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives emphasised the US was a “guarantor” of the Good Friday Agreement.

Tue, 16 Apr, 2019

UK’s bird-brain politics that could leave us all in a very dark place

There is a bird in legend. It’s called the Oozalum bird (you can look it up if you don’t believe me).

Tue, 02 Apr, 2019

Coveney: Anyone who threatens peace process will not be forgotten

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has insisted that the Good Friday Agreement and peace in the North is more important than economics as he defended the Brexit Irish backstop.

Wed, 30 Jan, 2019

Brexit will harm civil rights, activist warns on 50th anniversary of march

A leader of Northern Ireland's civil rights movement in the 1960s, says Brexit and a hard border will damage human rights.

Fri, 05 Oct, 2018

Peace in Ireland is sacrosanct: Good Friday disagreement and the DUP

Arlene Foster’s declaration that the Good Friday Agreement is “not sacrosanct” is shocking, but hardly surprising, as the party she leads, the DUP, opposed it in the first place.

Wed, 03 Oct, 2018

Reader's Blog: Voting for Brexit was UK’s act of humiliation

In his letter of October 1, Robert Sullivan tells us that the EU is ‘attempting humiliation’ in its negotiation with the UK on Brexit.

Wed, 03 Oct, 2018

Where the UK's Brexit plan (and Customs Bill) leave Northern Ireland

The status of the Irish border after Brexit is the most complicated and contested part of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Tue, 24 Jul, 2018

Michel Barnier: Peace process must be maintained after Brexit

European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier says the peace process in Northern Ireland has to be maintained after Brexit.

Tue, 01 May, 2018

Life after Good Friday: Pride in sport gladdens the Northern soul

This week is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Thu, 12 Apr, 2018

All victims of the Troubles 'betrayed' by politicians celebrating Good Friday Agreement

The father of a man murdered by loyalist paramilitaries has said victims have been "betrayed" by politicians, 20 years after the Good Friday peace agreement.

Wed, 11 Apr, 2018

Bill Clinton hails 'genius' of Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement was the "work of genius" and a "precious gift", former US President Bill Clinton has said.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Brexit underscores importance of Good Friday Agreement, says Brendan Howlin

Speaking on the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin has said that the impact Brexit will have underscores the importance of the settlement reached after decades of conflict.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Wife of bombing victim who had left side 'shattered' in 1992 attack says politicians sweeping issues under the carpet

Politicians have swept the victims' issue under the carpet, a teacher whose husband was badly injured in an IRA bombing said.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Peace in Ireland strongest legacy of the Good Friday Agreement, says Taoiseach

By Elaine Loughlin

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Shadow minister calls key Labour Brexit policy 'bollocks'

A shadow cabinet minister has described a key Labour Brexit policy as "bollocks", according to reports.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Seamus Mallon 'sad and angry' at state of politics in Northern Ireland

One of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement has said he is sad and angry at how politics in Northern Ireland sits 20 years after the landmark deal.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

25th anniversary of The Cranberries debut album celebrated with director's cut of iconic ad

It is one of Ireland's most memorable and best-loved tv ads and Tourism Ireland have released the director's cut for the first time today, writes Michelle McGlynn.

Tue, 10 Apr, 2018

Puzzles hub

Visit our brain gym where you will find simple and cryptic crosswords, sudoku puzzles and much more. Updated at midnight every day. PS ... We would love to hear your feedback on the section right HERE.