Over the course of this night, 20 years ago, the text to conclude the multi-party negotiations in N.Ireland was agreed.
It was issued with this Declaration of Support from the parties, fully endorsed by the British & Irish governments. #ItIsAgreed #GFA20 #BelfastAgreement
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"1. We, the participants in the multi-party negotiations, believe that the
agreement we have negotiated offers a truly historic opportunity for a new
beginning."
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"2. The tragedies of the past have left a deep and profoundly regrettable
legacy of suffering.
We must never forget those who have died or been injured, and their families.
But we can best honour them through a fresh start..."
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"...… in which we firmly dedicate ourselves
to the achievement
of reconciliation,
tolerance,
and mutual trust,
and to the protection
and vindication
of the human rights
of all.”
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“3. We are committed
to partnership,
equality
and mutual respect
as the basis of relationships
within Northern Ireland,
between North and South,
and between these islands.”
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“4. We reaffirm
our total & absolute commitment to
exclusively democratic & peaceful
means of resolving differences on political issues,
& our opposition to any use or threat of force by others
for any political purpose,
whether in regard to this agreement or otherwise.”
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“5. We acknowledge the substantial differences
between our continuing
& equally legitimate,
political aspirations.
However, we will endeavour to strive
in every practical way
towards reconciliation & rapprochement
within the framework of democratic & agreed arrangements"
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“…We pledge
that we will,
in good faith,
work to ensure
the success
of each and every one
of the arrangements
to be established under this agreement.”
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“..It is accepted that all
of the institutional & constitutional arrangements
- an Assembly in Northern Ireland,
a North/South Ministerial Council,
implementation bodies,
a British-Irish Council &
a British-Irish Intergovnmtl Conference...
- are interlocking
& interdependent”
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“...and that in particular
the functioning of the Assembly and the North/South Council
are so closely inter-related
that the success of each depends on that of the other.”
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“6. Accordingly,
in a spirit of concord,
we strongly commend this agreement
to the people,
North and South,
for their approval.”
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Accordingly,
In a spirit of concord,
On Friday 22nd May 1998,
The people
Approved.
Getting the feeling that there's too much #brexit#backstop bravado and too little sense?
Howsabout a 4 slide summary from @DPhinnemore & me setting out what we can be pretty sure of and what the UK/EU (dis)agree on - as viewed from Northern Ireland.
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1st: a lack of progress on the Protocol on NI/IRL in the draft Withdrawal Agmt.
All these colours have to turn green (i.e. agreed in principle & text) before we get that Deal for exit day next March.
Note that red circle - backstop is intended to be trumped at some point. 2/5
2nd: a summary of what is agreed on and what is still missing re: @BorderIrish and NI.
Note the extent of Northern Ireland-specific arrangements.
You've seen a version of this a couple of months ago. Not much progress here since you last saw it.
A quick response to the ERG report on @BorderIrish.
First, to be welcomed:
- It has been published
- It underlines that a ‘hard’ border NI/IRL is ‘totally undesirable’
- It sees customs measures as not altering NI's constitutional position
- It makes no mention of drones. 1/
It interprets 'no hard border' specifically to mean 'no physical infrastructure at the border'.
This appears to mean no limit to checks + inspections away from the border & entailing huge administrative burdens for cross-border traders.
So ‘no hard border’ ≠ frictionless. 2/
Vision of what could be done post-Brexit rests on several assumptions:
no UK-EU tariffs; broad ‘equivalence’; continuation of privileges of EU membership (e.g. access to VIES); close bilateral cooperation with Ireland;
and unfalteringly deep UK-EU mutual trust.
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A bit of context-setting (plus explanation of our imaginative colour coding).
The White Paper is in part an effort by UK govt to prove a NI-specific #backstop to be unnecessary. But remember Protocol for NI/IRL in the Withdrawal Agmt is abt much more than a customs border.
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A reminder of where we are up to on that Protocol on NI/IRL in the draft Withdrawal Agreement.
With added stars 🌟 to identify which bits the White Paper attempts to address (or negate) most directly.
There is a lot that is very welcome & very good to see in the UK Govt #Brexit White Paper, from the point of view of Northern Ireland, North/South cooperation & @BelfastAgmt
There is repeated mention of the UK & EU 'meeting their shared commitments to Northern Ireland & Ireland', esp. in Exec Summary.
And it states the UK wishes to see a future UK-EU partnership 'honouring the letter & the spirit of the Belfast (‘Good Friday’) Agreement'.
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Evidence of honouring the letter of @BelfastAgmt comes primarily in relation to areas of north/south cooperation.
The Mapping Exercise of cross-border links conducted before the Joint Report of Dec'17 appears to be bearing fruit in the form of specific areas identified here.
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