UK group highlights the ‘threat’ it says Brexit poses to peace in the North

Grace Flanagan, born seven years after the Good Friday Agreement, is one of the people interviewed for the 25th anniversary film released by European Movement UK. Picture: Youtube

A new short film commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement has claimed that Brexit poses the biggest threat to peace in the North since the 1994 ceasefire.

The film, released on Youtube by European Movement UK, charts the last 25 years in the North, highlighting voices from across different generations. The oldest person interviewed was born 50 years before the Good Friday Agreement, and the youngest — just 17 years old — was born seven years after the signing.

The intergenerational film works through more than 25 years of deeply intimate and personal history, covering the Troubles, tourism, integrated education, and regional regeneration. 

It  brings together 13 individuals from across the North who played a part in healing communities and moving Northern Ireland country forward.

In one clip, Grace Flanagan, a 17-year-old college student from Belfast, tells the powerful story of her grandfather, who was shot during the Troubles.

'No functioning government' 

Instead of being driven to violence by the incident, he advocated for peace, dedicating his life to progressing his community and healing the generational trauma caused by the conflict.

In another, Michael Lynch, born three years before the landmark agreement, says he does not remember anything but relative peace, issuing a stark warning.

He says: “People are really worried about things like health, education, and the cost of living, but we don’t have a functioning government.

“We don’t have an Assembly sitting at the minute. And the root cause of the fact that we don’t have an Assembly sitting is the fact that we voted to leave the European Union.”

The European Movement UK is an independent campaign group affiliated to European Movement International, of which European Movement Ireland is also a member.

European Movement UK chairman Mike Galsworthy said: “Some moments in history teach us just how far we can go when we work together.

“What we present here is a series of untold true stories of how the power of cooperation and Europe’s mission, commitment and hope for a peaceful future transformed Northern Ireland, changed the course of history and inspired the world.

“Whilst there have been difficulties on the path so far, and there may be more to come, Brexit now very clearly represents the biggest threat to the country’s peace, stability and progress.

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“To this day, Northern Ireland’s voice is still largely shut out of the Brexit debate in the UK.”

He says he hopes the film will keep the North in the political agenda following the Good Friday Agreement celebrations by highlighting how Brexit threatens “the very stability of Northern Ireland and its hard-won peace”.

The film is garnering praise from academics such as Dr Jennifer Cassidy of the University of Oxford who says it was “an insightful, moving, and gripping historical reflection of the Good Friday Agreement,” adding the agreement must be protected at all costs.

The film can be viewed online at Youtube.com/@EuropeanMovementUK.