25 years ago, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland reached a historic peace agreement, Good Friday. The country marks, Monday, April 10, in sobriety the 25th anniversary of this agreement.

On April 10, 1998, the day of Good Friday before Easter among Christians, the Republicans in favor of reunification with Ireland and the unionists attached to remaining within the United Kingdom won an unexpected peace agreement after intense negotiations involving London, Dublin and Washington.

The agreement ended three decades of violence that left 3,500 dead, between unionists, mostly Protestants, and republicans mostly Catholic, with the involvement of the British army.

"Today we remember the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the people of Northern Ireland," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was only 17 when the agreement was signed, said in a statement. He said the anniversary was an opportunity to "celebrate those who made tough decisions, accepted compromises and showed leadership."

In the years following the peace agreement, paramilitary groups were disarmed, the military border dismantled and British troops left.

Political deadlock

But, a quarter of a century later, the anniversary is commemorated without jubilation as peace in Northern Ireland seems today more fragile than rarely since 1998.

Local institutions – created following the agreement and supposed to unite communities – have been paralyzed for more than a year due to disagreements over the consequences of leaving the European Union.

The unionist party DUP – viscerally attached to the province's membership of the UK – refuses to participate in the government until the post-Brexit provisions (customs controls, application of certain European rules, etc.) aimed at avoiding the return of a physical border with Ireland have not been abandoned.

A renegotiation of the protocol between the EU and the UK, supposed to address the concerns of unionists, has been rejected by the DUP in recent weeks.

In this already difficult context in the run-up to the commemorations, Northern Ireland raised its level of the terrorist threat after the attempted assassination of a police officer in February claimed by members of a dissident republican group.

If "the last 25 years have had ups and downs," admitted Gerry Adams, former leader of the Republican Sinn Fein party, "one thing is certain, we are all in a better situation" today.

Joe Biden expected

No major events are planned for Monday but many political figures are expected in the week, including US President Joe Biden, who has Irish origins and arrives Tuesday evening in Belfast, where he will be welcomed on the tarmac by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The Good Friday Agreement, "as we will see during President Biden's visit this week, continues to enjoy considerable international support from our closest allies," Sunak said.

The Prime Minister is due to organise a "gala dinner" and attend a commemorative lecture at Queen's University Belfast. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – whose husband Bill Clinton played a key role in the peace deal when he was US president – is also scheduled to attend the three-day conference.

For his part, Joe Biden wants to take advantage of his visit to "mark the considerable progress made since the signing of the agreement" and recall "the willingness of the United States to support the vast economic potential of Northern Ireland," according to the White House.

With AFP

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