Madrid. The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has recalled the transcendent importance of the Good Friday Agreements which marked the beginning of the end of the Ulster conflict at the start of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the signing that will feature the President of the Federal Republic of Germany. United States of America, Joe Biden, as Extraordinary Guest.
The agreements signed on April 10, 1998 laid the foundations for a framework of respect between the two parties and, in the political field, resulted in a new Parliament based in Belfast and a government that was bound to be a coalition. The Nationalists, led by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and the Republicans, led by Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), were forced to sit at the same table.
The armed groups abandoned the armed struggle and there were releases, while London agreed to give up a large part of its military presence as a gesture of détente, in a practically celebratory atmosphere that went beyond political protocol and in which public figures participated.
“The Good Friday Agreements represented an incredible moment in our nation’s history, and a powerful and rare example of how a group of people can do the previously unimaginable to create a better future for Northern Ireland,” said Sunak.
“In the coming days I will reflect, above all, on that promise of a better future that we made to all the citizens of Northern Ireland. It is my responsibility as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to make sure that we live up to it.”
Biden will arrive in the UK on Tuesday evening and is set to visit Belfast where the two leaders will recall the mediation work of the then US President, Bill Clinton, to end decades of bloody conflict.
“Prime Minister Sunak will use President Biden’s visit and his engagements with business leaders and others in Belfast to celebrate Northern Ireland’s successes and encourage further long-term investment,” the UK prime minister’s office added in a statement published on Sunday.
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