After years of skilfully playing both sides of the ‘Boston or Berlin’ binary, we must now choose one of them
European capitals have arguably been better friends of Ireland for a much longer time
Belfast Agreement
The Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, is a peace accord signed on April 10th 1998, largely ending decades of violence known as the Troubles. It comprises two related agreements, the British-Irish Agreement and the Multi-Party Agreement. It led to the establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland and other institutions
Blocking Irish listeners from BBC Sounds app a ‘slap in the face’
Broadcaster is making the change to boost its commercial income
Reforms that undermine Belfast Agreement will be ‘dangerous’, experts warn
Northern Ireland facing a ‘mounting list of problems in healthcare, public finance and other aspects of good governance’, new report says
Shona McCarthy, the Irish woman running the world’s biggest arts festival, is heading home: ‘I’m tired. You feel it to your bones’
After 35 years of nonstop work, this ardent advocate for the arts is about to catch her breath
Alan Gilsenan: ‘I would have had a dreamy, artsy-fartsy notion that a united Ireland would be great’
In The Irish Question, his new documentary, the film-maker asks what reunification of the island would really mean
How the North and South deliberative forums worked
Participants were presented with five possible models for forming a government in the event of Irish unification
From majority-rule to inclusive coalitions: five possible models for governing a united Ireland
How might the Government of a unified island be constructed?
Order of 5,000 missiles for Ukraine ‘hugely significant’ for Belfast workforce, Robinson says
Thales missile factory to supply 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine, creating 200 jobs
Colum McCann on his new book: ‘You could actually take down the world’s internet ... with a fleet of 20 ships’
The novelist was astonished by the lax security around the undersea internet cables that keep us connected. That vulnerability, both technological and human, is at the heart of Twist, his new novel
‘This new generation doesn’t like the past’: A night at a unionist meeting
Unionists are ‘allowing republicans/nationalists to get inside our heads’ and control narrative on Irish unity being ‘inevitable’
How to connect Ireland and Britain after unity? Once mothballed institution may be key
Unification could sever North’s ties to Nato and Commonwealth, but Belfast Agreement provides for maintaining British–Irish links
Strong desire for continued British-Irish links after unity, survey shows
Most voters, North and South, say British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference should remain in place
Support for planning is evident among those for and against Irish unity
Voters are able to distinguish between wanting something to happen and planning for it to
So the North still says no. But for how much longer?
The South has no hesitation saying yes to unity – as long as it doesn’t cost any money or involving changing a flag or an anthem
The SDLP, Politics and Peace: The Mark Durkan Interviews by Graham Spencer – a sharp mind in full flow
The book is at its most interesting when Durkan is quizzed about John Hume and what his predecessor had been trying to achieve
Mark Durkan: There’s a ‘John Hume-sized hole in the conversation’ about united Ireland
Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan says there is a ‘John Hume-sized hole in the conversation’ surrounding the options for constitutional change
Architecture of the Belfast Agreement is dying of disinterest
There are worse fates for the agreement than fading into irrelevance, but it would be dangerous not to acknowledge this is happening
‘We’ll see’: Bertie Ahern coy on presidential ambitions as he receives award at Trinity College Dublin
Former taoiseach honoured by university’s Law Society for contribution to building peace in Ireland
Ken Reid obituary: Journalist who covered Northern Ireland from war to peace
Reid had an agreeable nature and could make friends with anybody
Influential Sinn Féin strategist Ted Howell dies aged 78
Trusted adviser to Gerry Adams was a senior member of the party’s backroom team in negotiations that led to the Belfast Agreement
Fears new UK citizenship ceremonies with flags could damage NI community relations
Blair-era pledge of giving ‘my loyalty to the United Kingdom’ faced concerns in wake of Belfast Agreement
Peace process prisoner releases prompted warning that not all would become ‘good guys’, State papers show
British NI minister noted ‘legitimate concerns’ that released prisoners could end up teaching children of their victims
Irish officials requested that inward investment be kept out of North-South co-operation
During final, critical negotiations ahead of 1998 Belfast Agreement, Dublin officials were ‘clearly under pressure’ from IDA, NI civil service noted
Trimble blocked Tourism Ireland campaign in Britain, records show
Unionist leader objected to Britain being designated part of ‘overseas’ market
From Blair and Clinton to civil servants in the shadows, archive papers reveal scale of peace push
IRA Army Council management by Gerry Adams, Bertie Ahern’s referendum worries and unionists’ mistrust are revealed in documents
How John Bruton, the last Redmondite, got to grips with the IRA, the UK and the peace process
Once dismissed as ‘John Unionist’ in the Dáil, Bruton’s lifelong interest in history served him in key 1990s talks
My Belfast friends can buy a house and start a family more easily than those in Dublin
In their daily lives, Northerners seem more grown-up than Southerners
Why are loyalists in east Belfast so afraid of the Irish language and the GAA?
Neither will make a button of difference to the identity of a single unionist or loyalist in the area. I know this because I am a unionist who lives in east Belfast
John Bruton’s former adviser says history of the peace process needs to be rewritten
Shane Kenny says the then taoiseach never received the credit due for his role leading up to the Belfast Agreement
Bryan Dobson: David Davin-Power was a natural storyteller in both professional and personal life
Veteran broadcaster had a way of bringing people together, a talent for analysis and a deep respect for the importance of language
What Gerry Adams really said to David Trimble in the loo during peace talks
Drama bigs up Adams-Trimble encounter; Saoirse Ronan gets a knock-back; buskers object to Grafton Street development; and Sabina Higgins takes on a woolly role
Few would have thought a play about the fraught Belfast Agreement talks could be so gripping
The message that “contradiction is better than violence” is more relevant and urgent than ever
In Good Time review: Methodist minister casts light on peacebuilding by church
The Rev Harold Good’s memoir illuminates the role of religious commitment in limiting conflict
Government to provide €24m for initiative aimed at tackling educational disadvantage in North
Funds will be provided under Shared Island initiative with NI department of education to be responsible for delivery of programme
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Six Nations 2025
Get the latest news, analysis and match reports from the M6N and W6N championships
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices