‘Towards a Lasting Peace’? : the Northern Ireland multi-party agreement, referendum and Assembly elections of 1998

The agreement signed by the Irish and British governments and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland on 10th April 1998 (Good Friday) was a truly historic step. The agreement itself marks the most significant shift in party political positions since the partition of Ireland. This, coupled with the fact that the agreement is open-ended, and indeed under its provisions must develop beyond what is already agreed to survive means that an analysis of the evolution of party political attitudes which led to this agreement is essential in order to understand its significance. The following article gives a brief summary of the key provisions of the agreement, analyses the processes which led the different parties towards a position where agreement was possible and examines the referenda which ratified the agreement North and South and election results to the new Northern Ireland Assembly the public’s first opportunities to pass judgement on the efforts of their politicians.