BRIAN KENNEDY: singer and author
"The thing that strikes me most 15 years after the agreement is the difference it made to the generation of children that are not of the Troubles, the untroubled generation you might call them. It's interesting to see what their cares and worries are. They are so much freer to do everything. They can gather in groups in the city-centre to hang out, they can occupy the pavements and drink coffee without worrying about what might happen.
“The mantra I grew up with was “stay in your own area” but they don’t live under that rule which is fantastic. I still walk around Belfast with a black-and-white movie rolling in my head of various incidents – that’s where a car was blown up or that’s where the bomb went off.
“When I go up to see my family and my brother’s children, I really like the fact that they are not worried about the things I was worried about growing up in Belfast. They are worried about normal teenage stuff like what colour to dye their hair or what is the coolest jacket to have.
“They have a totally different view of the place which is wonderful. Before the agreement, it never felt as though peace was possible. The Good Friday agreement gave us the idea that peace could break out and it allowed young people to grow up in a totally different, much better place.”