The Good Friday Agreement

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What was the Good Friday Agreement?
It was an agreement between the British and Irish govt.s and most political parties in NI about how NI should be governed. The talks leading to the agreement dealt with issues that had caused conflict. It aimed to set up a power-sharing govt. in NI
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Why was the General Election of 1997 important?
In Britain -The GE saw a labour govt. take office, led by Tony Blair -Blair stated that if the PIRA renewed their ceasefire SF would be admitted into talks -The election showed increased support for SF, and therefore the Republican movement
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Why was the General Election of 1997 important? (Cont.)
In the South -Fine Gael lost power and Fianna Fail took over led by Bertie Ahern. They had always been more open to negotiation
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When did the PIRA call their second ceasefire?
After being reassured that SF would be included in talks, the PIRA called their ceasefire in July 1997 and SF was entered into talks in September after signing the Principles of Non-violence
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What were the Unionist reactions to SF entering talks?
-Some refused to negotiate with SF, including the DUP and UKUP -The UUP and parties that represented loyalist paramilitaries like the PUP didn't share this view
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What problems were there among the Republican movement?
-SF needed reassurance that the PIRA would not break the ceasefire -At the general Army Convention it was agreed to change the Constitution to allow the army council to give concession -The victory at the convention led to a split in the IRA
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What 3 strands were negotiations based upon?
1. This would concentrate on establishing a suitable inter-governmental structure for NI 2. This would be concerned with relationships between the 2 parts of Ireland
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What 3 strands were negotiations based upon? (Cont.)
3. British-Irish relations -At the same time an Independent Commission on Decommissioning was launched under the chairmanship of General John de Chastelain
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When did Mitchell set the deadline for and what happened?
Holy Thursday, 9th April 1997. -Blair and Ahern both joined the negotiators
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When did Mitchell set the deadline for and what happened? (Cont.)
- It looked as if talks would break up over UUP objections to the release of paramilitary prisoners and decommissioning -However, President Clinton was called in to support the process
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What did the Agreement aim to do and how did it go about it?
It sought to build relationships within NI, between NI and the ROI, and between NI and Britain. It is divided into 3 strands:
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What did the Agreement aim to do and how did it go about it? (Cont.)
Strand 1. set up up the power-sharing assembly and executive (and a Civic Forum, which is not currently in operation)
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What did the Agreement aim to do and how did it go about it? (Cont..)
Strand 2. established an Irish dimension to the governing arrangements for NI. The North-South institutions (the North South Ministerial Council [NSMC] and the North-South Implimentation Bodies) encouraged co-operation that benefited NI and the ROI
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What did the Agreement aim to do and how did it go about it? (Cont...)
Strand 3. established 'East-West' institutions (the British-Irish Council and the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference) to encourage co-operation between Britain and Ireland. These are forums where the 2 govts. discuss Reserved Matters
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How did people react to the GFA?
Unionist: The DUP and UKUP were unhappy from the start. Now there were divisions emerging among the UUP. This was apparent when 1 member waled out as the deal was nearing completion. 6/10 UUP MPs were against the deal.
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How did people react to the GFA? (Cont.)
In May, all opposing Unionists set up the United Unionist Campaign with the slogan 'Its Right to say No'. The Alliance party fully supported the Agreement
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How did people react to the GFA? (Cont..)
Nationalist: On the last day of April the PIRA issued a statement saying that the Agreement 'fell short of presenting a solid basis for a lasting settlement' and added it would not decommission. However, SF urged its supporters to back the agreement.
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How did people react to the GFA? (Cont...)
At their Ard Fheis, members voted to change their constitution so as to allow members to take seats in the NI assembly. The SDLP supported it as they had a large role in creating it. The NI public were also in favour
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What other elements of the Agreement were there?
-The Irish govt. undertook renouncing its constitutional claim over NI which was contained in Articles II and III in their 1937 constitution -London agreed to replace the 1920 Government of Ireland Act
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What other issues did the Agreement tackle?
-It set up the International Independent Commission to monitor progress in decommissioning. -It referred to 'demilitarisation', as we moved towards a more 'normal society' the military presence in NI would be scaled down.
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What other issues did the Agreement tackle? (Cont.)
-A commission to consider the reform of policing in NI was established -The early release of inmates with crimes relating to the conflict
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What did the May 1998 referendum show?
- Within NI, 71.2% of those who voted were in favour of the agreement. It is estimated that 97% of Nationalists gave their support while only 52% of Unionists did.
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What did the May 1998 referendum show? (Cont.)
-In the South, 94.4% agreed with the plans to amend articles II and III
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What was the problem with the elections to the new Assembly?
In late June elections for the new Assembly seemed to show that there was a clear majority in favour of power-sharing (75%, so 80/108 assembly members) but this did not take into account that not all the 28 UUP members elected were in favour
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What was the problem with the elections to the new Assembly? (Cont.)
It also didn't take into account that key decisions required the majority of both communities and that with this fine balance, that could prove difficult
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When did the Assembly first gather and who led it?
It first gathered on 15th July 1998 with John Alderdice as Presiding Officer, David Trimble as First Minister and Seamus Mallon as Deputy First Minister
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Why was the General Election of 1997 important?

Back

In Britain -The GE saw a labour govt. take office, led by Tony Blair -Blair stated that if the PIRA renewed their ceasefire SF would be admitted into talks -The election showed increased support for SF, and therefore the Republican movement

Card 3

Front

Why was the General Election of 1997 important? (Cont.)

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

When did the PIRA call their second ceasefire?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What were the Unionist reactions to SF entering talks?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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