The Good Friday Agreement

Available for over a year

The Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, was a political deal designed to bring an end to 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland. It was signed on 10 April 1998 and approved by public votes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Jonathan Powell was Chief of Staff to Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. During that time, he was the chief British government negotiator on Northern Ireland. Monica McWilliams co-founded the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and played an instrumental role in the Multi-Party Peace Talks. She is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly and served as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Lord Paul Bew is a life peer and British historian. He served as an adviser to Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble. Mark Durkan was a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party negotiating team and went on to lead the SDLP. He is a former MP for Foyle. Mark Devenport was the BBC’s Ireland correspondent when the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated. He covered Northern Ireland for over twenty years. Kirsty also speaks to Bertie Ahern who served as Taoiseach between 1997 and 2008 and who jointly negotiated the agreement with Tony Blair. Producer Charlotte North Series Producer David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4