Good Friday Agreement: 'The next 25 years must be about building on those foundations' - Chris Mac Manus MEP

'The Good Friday Agreement brought our island a foundation of peace and reconciliation' - Chris Mac Manus MEP

When the Good Friday Agreement was signed 25 years ago, it changed the course of our island. It celebrated the ideal of peaceful difference, it aspired to protect the pursuit of one’s aims through democratic means and it inspired a coexistence once thought impossible. It brought a lasting peace without eroding identity.

It challenged all, on every side, to seek new paths to achieve their goals. It challenged us to reconcile, revisit and reconsider. To ask big questions- often of ourselves. It challenged us to have new, difficult conversations. 

And we did. And we do. And we must do so again.

25 years on, we must take the next steps. Together we must envisage a new Ireland that welcomes and protects all identities. We must reach out and include those of a unionist or loyalist tradition.

We must challenge ourselves to have the big conversations about the future of our shared island. About constitutional change. About how we revolutionise our healthcare system, how we address the housing crisis and how we guarantee equality for everyone on our island. We must embark on a far reaching conversation about what a new society might look like, through an all-island Citizens’ Assembly. Our island has come a long way in the quarter of a century since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. A shared vision for the next quarter of a century is now necessary.

The European Union has played an important role throughout these 25 years. Their commitment to cross-border and cross-community projects has transformed countless lives in the North and across the border region. The EU’s commitment to the upholding and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts has been vital to the long-term success of our Peace Project.

Like all of us, the EU must now too step up to new challenges 25 years on. The European Union has guaranteed automatic re-entry for the North of Ireland upon reunification. However those same institutions now need to prepare and engage properly in the conversation regarding an Irish Unity referendum. It cannot be a bystander and risk Brexit style fallout. The European Union must be an active voice in an orderly and informed debate. Every voice will matter in ensuring a balanced discourse.

The 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement must be the impetus of a new Ireland. I believe this is a pivotal era in our island’s history and we must build on the momentum we’ve gathered in recent times.

In November I hosted the launch of the academic research paper, ‘Making the Case for Irish Unity in the EU’, co-authored by Professor Colin Harvey and Mr. Mark Bassett, Barrister-at-Law, at the European Parliament in Brussels. This important publication sets out the legal mechanisms of the Good Friday Agreement and international law, and seeks to provide a platform for the European institutions to engage fully in the Irish Unity debate.

The Ireland’s Future events that took place across our island were further important stepping stones in creating a public forum for the Irish Unity debate. The cross cultural participation and the sheer numbers in attendance at the events, prove that a new chapter is truly upon us.

In Brussels recently, we fully embraced the spirit of the cross-party cooperation of the Good Friday Agreement by marking its 25th anniversary in the European Parliament with colleagues from across the political spectrum. The events recognised the key partners for peace from all backgrounds and celebrated their achievements. The interest and engagement from across EU member states for this event was heartening. Working with Irish MEPs from many different political groups to create this event again shows what we can achieve when we come together.

We must continue working together. We must ask the difficult questions and we must start planning for the future of Ireland. The Good Friday agreement brought our island a foundation of peace and reconciliation. The next 25 years must be about building on those foundations.

Chris MacManus MEP 

MEP for Ireland’s Midlands Northwest and a Member of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.

*SPONSORED CONTENT