The 1998 agreement came to a period of considerable optimism after the Cold War about the prospects for a solution to the long-standing political conflict, from the Middle East to Colombia to the Balkans. The passage of time has dampened these hopes, as many conflicts have proved resistant to a solution and even the agreements, which have remained intact, have proved largely disappointing in carrying out genuine reconciliation. The 1998 agreement certainly fell into this category, but the brutal violence did not re-appear. As the international community reflects on future peace efforts in Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan and beyond, the peace process in Northern Ireland continues to provide important lessons for scientists and practitioners. The Good Friday Agreement is a pillar of peace in Northern Ireland. It has been touted as a model of a peace agreement, which is reflected in many ways in the overall high support it enjoys. Nevertheless, peace in Northern Ireland remains fragile, threatened by both community divisions and persistent violence. It is questionable whether these problems can be solved by amending the Good Friday Agreement. However, any discussion on this subject should be motivated by efforts to strengthen reconciliation, normalization of relations between the two communities and the reduction of violence, not by policy measures of power in London, Dublin or Brussels. The most obvious gaps remain physical. The Catholic and Protestant communities are very separate, especially in poor and urban areas. Nothing more than the so-called interfaces and walls of peace, some of which have been built since 1998, have come for municipal divisions. Walls are expected to fall by 2023, but the survey shows that the proportion of the population that still considers them necessary (38%) is as important as the proportion that supports their dismantling (40%).
This shows people`s insecurity and fear of a return to violence. The final withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK has agreed on a complex solution to this delicate problem. Under the proposed regime, Northern Ireland, like the rest of the UK, would leave the EU customs union, the basis for common tariffs on all products imported into the bloc. However, the necessary customs checks would not take place at the border with the Republic of Ireland, but between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, creating a new border in the Irish Sea. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland – but not the rest of the UK – would continue to follow many of the EU`s internal market rules, so that the land border with Ireland could remain open. This regime is also supported by a separate agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom allowing the free movement of persons between the two countries. The Good Friday Agreement, concluded in 1998, provided a framework for a political solution in Northern Ireland regarding the division of power between unionists and nationalists. It was signed by the British and Irish governments, as well as by four of Northern Ireland`s main political parties: Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party. Of the major parties, only the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) abstained.
Although the agreement confirms that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, it provides that Ireland can be united if it is supported by majorities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “Violence is directed inwards,” the researcher said. 70 Following the violence, governments voted to expel, at least temporarily, the Ulster Democratic Party (linked to the paramilitary fighters of the Ulster Freedom Loyalists) and Sinn Fein. Although the decision was in danger of collapsing, it eventually strengthened the credibility of the subsequent approach by demonstrating the government`s willingness to carry out its threats against non-compliant parties.