UNIT 11: The Good Friday Agreement, 1998 Flashcards
Describe the lead up to the GFA:
• The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April, 1998.
• It ended 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland. A peace agreement had not
seemed likely at the beginning of 1998, in spite of the fact that progress had been made towards political talks since the Downing Street Declaration of 1993 and paramilitary ceasefires of 1994.
• Former US Senator, George Mitchell, who had been appointed head of the
international committee assigned with bringing about peace in Northern Ireland,
now concluded that a strict deadline should be set in order to put pressure on all
sides to secure a settlement.
• He set the deadline for the stroke of midnight on Thursday 9 April, 1998, and
persuaded all the participants to agree to this. After frantic talks during the final
week of negotiations in April 1998, during which the British Prime Minister, Tony
Blair, and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, joined in directly, agreement was finally
reached.
• On Good Friday, 10 April 1998, George Mitchell stated, “I am pleased to
announce that the two governments and the political parties in Northern Ireland
have reached agreement.”
• A copy of The Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement, as it would
become known) was posted to every household in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland and then put to a referendum in May.
• The result of the referendum was a majority of 71.1% in favour in Northern
Ireland and 94.4% in favour in the Republic of Ireland.
• By the end of 1998, the people of Northern Ireland had elected a new assembly, which would sit at Parliament Buildings at Stormont.
What were the results of the GFA referendum:
• There was a large YES majority. Turnout in Northern Ireland was very high (at
81.1%).
• 71.1% of voters voted YES in Northern Ireland, while 94.4% of voters in the
Republic of Ireland also voted YES.
When was the GFA signed?
April 10th 1998
Describe the key terms of the GFA:
• A new Assembly for Northern Ireland would be established. It would have 108
members and decisions made by it would need the agreement (or consent) of both
communities in Northern Ireland.
• The Republic of Ireland government would remove Articles 2 and 3 of its
constitution, which claimed ownership of Northern Ireland.
• A North-South Council of Members would be established. Its members would come
from the new Northern Ireland Assembly and ministers from the Republic.
• Policing would be reviewed in Northern Ireland.
• The early release of paramilitary prisoners was agreed.
Describe what happened after the GFA referendum:
• Elections to a new 108-person assembly, which would sit at Parliament buildings at Stormont, followed on 25 June 1998. This assembly would elect a new power-sharing Executive.
• No party would be able to control the assembly. Decisions would be made on the principle of parallel consent, needing the agreement of a majority of unionists and nationalists.
The first assembly’s make-up was as follows:
UUP 28
SDLP 24
DUP 20
SF 18
Alliance 6
UKUP 5
Independent (anti-agreement)
Unionists 3
PUP 2
Women’s Coalition 2
With 58 seats on the Unionist side, David Trimble became First Minister, with
the SDLP’s Seamus Mallon as Deputy First Minister.
The Good Friday Agreement came into force in December 1998 when
Northern Ireland’s politicians took their seats at Stormont.
What were the responses to the GFA?
• The public was given an opportunity to have their say on the Good Friday Agreement with
referenda held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in May 1998.
• Over 71% of voters in NI supported the GFA, with a stronger approval rate among nationalists.
• In the Republic of Ireland, 94% of voters approved the GFA. This led to the
government to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution.
• Elections to the 108-member power sharing Northern Ireland Assembly took place in June
1998. The unionist parties were evenly divided over involvement in the Assembly.
• The Northern Ireland Assembly met in July 1998 with UUP leader David Trimble
becoming First Minister and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP becoming Deputy First
Minister.
What were the unionist responses to the GFA?
• Unionists were divided in their responses to the GFA.
• Within the UUP, David Trimble received support for accepting the GFA. However, 6 of the UUP’s 10 MPs opposed the deal and left the party in protest and joined the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP), including Jeffery Donaldson who walked out of the negotiations as they were nearing completion of the deal.
• Some Unionists did not believe that Sinn Fein should be allowed in government until the IRA had fully decommissioned. For David Trimble the compromise to allow decommissioning to happen slowly was a huge leap of faith.
• The DUP leader, Ian Paisley called it “more treacherous” than the Sunningdale
Agreement and took part in the ‘NO’ campaign for the referendum.
• Hardline Unionists like the DUP objected to the North/South government bodies which would allow the Republic of Ireland a say in how Northern Ireland was run.
• In May all the Unionists opposed to the Agreement including some within the UUP set up the United Ulster Unionist Campaign to coordinate their campaign of opposition. Their slogan was – ‘It’s Right to say No’.
• Loyalist violence continued after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
What were the nationalist responses to the GFA?
• The Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), the leading nationalist party played an important part in the negotiations leading to the signing of the GFA and therefore supported it.
• Sinn Fein’s leadership welcomed the agreement and advised its supporters to support it arguing that concessions on prisoner release was an important gain.
• Sinn Fein was prepared to end its abstentionist policy at a ‘local level’. At the Party’s Ard Fheis members voted to change the constitution to allow members to take seats in the new Northern Ireland Assembly.
• The PIRA released a statement saying the Agreement fell short of what they believed was necessary to achieve a lasting settlement and they stated that they would not decommission their weapons
