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Good Friday Agreement
Back to 1990sSince 1996, political representatives had been invited to multi-party talks in an effort to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
Several parties left the talks after disagreements over the process of decommissioning weapons and the proposed release of political prisoners. In 1998 Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the talks as US special envoy to Northern Ireland, proposed a deadline of 9 April.
Discussions continued past their original deadline, but on 10 April the Belfast Agreement was signed, consisting of a multi-party agreement signed by Northern Ireland political representatives and the British-Irish Agreement between the two governments. It is sometimes known as the Good Friday Agreement, named after the day it was signed. On 22 May 1998, a referendum was held to determine whether the public approved the proposed agreement. Over 71% voted ‘Yes’ and the agreement was passed.
