Twenty-five years on: The legacy of the Good Friday Agreement

Politicians and experts reflect on the deal credited with ending 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the GFA called for “the removal of security installations”, and neither the republic nor Northern Ireland put up any signs at the border to indicate a different jurisdiction. “However, the Brexit vote made me feel sick as it restored the psychological border … Because Brexit is ultimately about borders, it was always going to lead to debates about old borders, like the Irish border.” The GFA’s 25th anniversary comes at a strange time as Northern Ireland is without a government for the sixth time since its assembly was established in 1998 in Belfast. “I think those concerns are still valid even though some of them have become historic in their nature, but overall, we are focused on finding solutions that everyone in Northern Ireland can be comfortable with.” Interestingly enough, an issue that has managed to unite Sinn Fein and the DUP is their aversion to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. However, like Scotland, Northern Ireland voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum to remain within the European Union, meaning “Irish unity has been hastened by the Tory government’s actions,” Conway-Walsh said.