Belfast City Hall, above, by William Murphy via Wikimedia Commons. Portraits by Lee Pellegrini.
When Boston College held its Commencement Exercises on May 18, 1998, the occasion was not just a graduation ceremony, but a view of history in the making.
Addressing the Class of 1998 and the Alumni Stadium audience, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern made a public appeal for the recently signed Good Friday Agreement, which within days faced a referendum in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. As Ahern explained, the GFA had halted the three decades of conflict and tragedy in Northern Ireland known as 鈥渢he Troubles,鈥� offering hope for the troubled region.
鈥淛ust as you graduates are starting on a new journey in life,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e in Ireland are looking forward to our own new beginning. For the first time since 1918, the people of the whole of Ireland will have the opportunity to vote for a common, shared vision of their future together.鈥�
By the end of that week, the GFA had been overwhelmingly ratified, and a new era in Northern Ireland began with the prospect of restoration of self-government with power sharing, a focus on civil and political rights, police reform, and demilitarization.
Twenty-five years later, the GFA and its legacy is the subject of much reflection throughout Northern Ireland and beyond, including among Boston College鈥檚 Irish scholars. [The Irish Studies Program will host a two-day conference this month, 鈥�Writing the Troubles: A Perspective on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.鈥漖 Disappointments and setbacks, some due to unforeseen circumstances and events鈥攏otably Brexit鈥攈ave diluted the hoped-for impact of the agreement, say faculty members. Socially, politically, and economically, Northern Ireland still has a long way to go to shake off the Troubles鈥� effects.
But does that mean the GFA failed? Not at all, according to the scholars: Above all else, it stopped a bloody civil war that seemed almost impossible to resolve and provided at least a pathway to prosperity and equality.
Robert Savage
鈥淭he agreement ended what many considered an unsolvable conflict,鈥� said Robert Savage, professor of the practice in the History Department. 鈥淭he Troubles witnessed 30 years of bloody mayhem that destroyed the lives of many people. What is most remarkable and should not be overlooked is that the violence has ended.鈥�
鈥淒espite periods of interruption, the GFA has restored devolved government to the country in a dynamic and creative way, so that there is genuine power sharing between people who, prior to 1998, would scarcely speak to one another,鈥� said Professor of History Oliver Rafferty, S.J. Getting to 鈥測es鈥� required bitter foes to put aside longstanding, fervently-held views, he added: Republicans/nationalists who opposed the very existence of Northern Ireland accepted the reality of the state, as well as the police service鈥攁 particular source of controversy鈥攁nd that Northern Ireland鈥檚 status 鈥渃ould not be changed without the consent of the unionist majority鈥�; unionists/loyalists 鈥渞ealized that government would have to be shared to a meaningful degree with the Catholic nationalist minority.鈥�
Retired Associate Professor of History Kevin O鈥橬eill, co-founder of 精东影业鈥檚 Irish Studies Program, cites the courage of John Hume (a regular visitor and occasional visiting faculty member at 精东影业) as crucial to the GFA. As Northern Ireland鈥檚 leading Catholic politician and head of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume was aware 鈥渢hat by creating the new political institutions of the agreement, he was likely consigning his own party to marginalization. But he considered the end of destructive violence worth the risk.鈥�
Boston College proved to be a locus of relevant activity during this transition period in Northern Ireland. In the fall of 1998, the University鈥檚 Irish Institute鈥攚hich for years had offered 鈥渃ross-border鈥� programs for both Northern Irish and Irish professionals鈥攍aunched a series of seminars and discussions to help members of the newly created Northern Ireland Assembly prepare for their responsibilities as leaders in government; 精东影业 Political Science faculty members Marc Landy, Dennis Hale, and John Tierney were among those involved in the program.
The campus also hosted many of the key figures in the GFA negotiations, including Hume and his co-Nobel Peace Prize recipient David Trimble (both were awarded honorary degrees from 精东影业), Martin McGuinness, David Irvine, Gusty Spence and Mo Mowlam. Hume also helped teach a course with Savage and other 精东影业 faculty.
Despite the optimism it generated, said faculty experts, the GFA has had its vulnerabilities, not least in the formulation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has endured numerous interruptions and suspensions mainly because of conflicts between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn F茅in, which represents the Irish nationalist community and is now the assembly鈥檚 largest party.听 The assembly has not met in nearly a year, in part because the DUP refused to assent to the election of a Sinn F茅in first minister.
Frustrating as it may be that the assembly can be so readily disrupted by one party鈥攁nd by extension the particular community it represents鈥擮鈥橬eill said that this flaw was actually necessary in achieving the GFA: 鈥淲ithout the ability to boycott or veto,鈥� he explained, 鈥渢he very real insecurities of the major parties would have prevented the agreement.鈥�
Not to be overlooked, say the faculty members, are the deep wounds in Northern Ireland left from the Troubles, and other scars that go back for generations. Society is still divided, Savage noted, with Catholic children attending Catholic schools and Protestant children going to state schools generally viewed as 鈥淧rotestant鈥�; many young people, especially from working-class backgrounds, struggle to find decent jobs.
O鈥橬eill pointed to the failure to establish a 鈥渢ruth and reconciliation process鈥� that, among other things, could aid in addressing the legacy of violence.
Oliver Rafferty, S.J.
Meanwhile, according to Fr. Rafferty, Protestant unionists think Catholic nationalists were given an advantageous position from the GFA鈥攁 psychological response in part, he added, because the Protestant unionist community for so long assumed it was the dominant one in Northern Irish society.
Then there鈥檚 Brexit, note the faculty members: It鈥檚 caused difficulties in the relationship between Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Great Britain, and in particular exacerbated the stand-off in the assembly, as the DUP and other unionists criticized efforts by the Irish and British governments, along with the European Union, to resolve the complex Brexit-related customs and immigration issues known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. Within Northern Ireland itself, the majority of voters鈥攊ncluding most Catholics and nationalists鈥攐pposed Brexit, while unionists felt their connection to the United Kingdom threatened by the EU.
Yet for all the pessimism about post-GFA Northern Ireland, it鈥檚 possible to find hope, according to Savage. When he first began working and researching there many years ago, 鈥渢here were soldiers everywhere, the police traveled in armored cars, and there was a sense of dread in places such as Belfast. That is no longer the case.鈥� While Belfast and Derry still have issues with unemployment, poverty, and segregated neighborhoods, 鈥渢he cities have come back to life鈥攖he Lagan River that runs through Belfast has seen the type of development that brings people, including tourists, back into the city.鈥� The pubs and restaurants are filled with people and music, he added, 鈥渁 sharp contrast to what they were like even in the 1990s.鈥�
Hume, who died in 2020, gave what might be the definitive summary of the GFA鈥檚 raison d鈥櫭猼re when he spoke at 精东影业 in 1999: 鈥淚n many ways, we are all victims in this conflict. The best we can do for the dead is to make a new Northern Ireland as a monument for them and to leave the past behind us.鈥�
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Sean Smith | University Communications | April 2023
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