Belfast Agreement

The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland "peace process". It was signed in Belfast on April 10 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. It was endorsed by the voters of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in separate referenda on May 23, 1998.

Main provisions

• The principle that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the majority vote of its citizens.
• A commitment by all parties to "exclusively peaceful and democratic means".
• The establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly with devolved legislative powers.
• Creation of a 'power-sharing' Northern Ireland Executive, using the D'Hondt method to allocate Ministries proportionally to the main parties.
• Creation of a North-South Ministerial Council and North-South Implementation Bodies to bring about cross-border cooperation in policy and programmes on a number of issues.
• Establishment of a British-Irish Council, composed of representatives from the governments of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, to discuss areas of common concern.
• Release within two years of paramilitary prisoners belonging to organisations observing a ceasefire.
• A two year target for decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
• The modification of the Republic's territorial claim to Northern Ireland in Articles 2 and 3 of its constitution.
• New legislation for Northern Ireland on policing, human rights and equality.
• Demilitarisation of British army bases.
• Police reform.

Vague wording of some of the provisions, which helped ensure acceptance of the agreement at the time, served to postpone debate on some of the more contentious issues - most notably paramilitary decommissioning, police reform and demilitarisation. A date of May, 2000, was set for total disarming of all paramilitary groups. On 26 September, 2005, it was announced that the IRA had completely decommisioned their arsenal weapons and "put them beyond use".

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