HAROLD GOOD: Methodist minister who with the Rev Alec Reid oversaw IRA decommissioning in 2005
"I scrapped what I was going to say and I centred my thoughts around this momentous event on which we were pinning all our hopes. I remember being unapologetically positive about this great sign of hope, about it being in line with the Easter message that after darkness comes light, after despair comes hope.
“A lot of people paid a very high price for us to have this opportunity and I also centred my thoughts on those sorts of themes. One person more by their silence than by anything else conveyed to me that they felt I was perhaps being a little bit too political. But the vast majority of people thanked me for what I said, and were very supportive and reaffirming about what I said.
“The agreement is a human document and has its own frailties but it is remarkable in that it embraces the principles of human rights, equality, mutual respect, the recognition and acceptance of each other’s aspiration – all the things that were so important to get on paper. Everybody had to give something.
“Now we have to ask our politicians to behave a bit better, to think more clearly before saying and doing some of the things we have seen recently, and being less concerned about what’s in it for their party. We need to rekindle the spirit of 1998.
“But remember: the people who sat around that table were enemies were hugely at variance with each other and had done terrible damage to each other, and had hurt each other’s peoples. For them to come up with an agreement was quite remarkable. I am still hopeful, I still draw inspiration from that day.”