The Belfast Agreement ( Ir. Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste , English Belfast Agreement ), also known as the Good Friday Agreement ( Ir. Comhaontú Aoine Chéasta , English Good Friday Agreement ) - an agreement on a political settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland , which also provided for the establishment of autonomous authorities A number of other measures were proposed regarding the political and constitutional aspects of the Northern Ireland conflict. The agreement provided for:
- Election of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
- Formation of an Executive Committee of 12 Ministers of both major denominations to serve as the Government of Northern Ireland
- Establishment of a Department of Inter-Ireland Council within the framework of cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
- The creation of the Intergovernmental Council of the British Isles, including representatives of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Ulster , Scotland and Wales.
- Amending the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland regarding territorial claims for Northern Ireland .
- The disarmament of the Northern Ireland militias over the next two years after the referendum, which should be followed by the fulfillment of the promise of the release of North Irish prisoners from prison.
- Reform of the Ulster police, in accordance with Patten's plan. [one]
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The reform plan provided for an equalization of the number of Protestants and Catholics serving in the police, the creation of a commission to monitor human rights, and the exclusion of the word “Royal” from the official name of the police, which had a significant symbolic coloring, emphasizing the pre-revolutionary status of Northern Ireland. But, despite a thorough and fairly well-developed plan, it was approved only by the Northern Ireland Parliament, and the main political parties expressed some dissatisfaction, on various points. [2]
The agreement was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 (Friday) by the British and Irish governments and approved by most political parties in Northern Ireland (the only political party opposed was the Democratic Union Party led by Ian Paisley ), including the previously banned Sinn Fein ", The political wing of the IRA . On May 23, 1998, the Agreement was approved by Northern Ireland voters in a referendum . On the same day, voters in the Republic of Ireland voted to amend the constitution in accordance with the Agreement.
Discussion of the agreement continued in Ulster for 22 months.
Content
Referendum
The results of two simultaneous referenda on the Belfast Agreement were as follows:
| Turnout | Behind | Vs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 81% | 676,966 (71%) | 274.879 (29%) |
| Republic of Ireland | 56% | 1,442,583 (94%) | 85,748 (6%) |
As a result of the signing of the agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly was re-established through the Plenipotentiary Executive Committee, consisting of 108 members, whose goal is to solve economic and social problems. The Assembly was elected on June 25, 1998. The also created to formalize the interaction between different parts of the island of Ireland and the to formalize the relationship between all the representative bodies of the British Isles and Ireland [3] .
On June 25, 1998, elections to the Assembly were held. The majority in it, having received 28 seats, was taken by the Ulster Unionist Party , the leader - David Trimble. The Social Democratic and Labor Party scored 24 places, the leader - John Hume. The third with 20 seats in the Assembly was the Democratic Unionist Party , leader - Jan Paisley. Slightly less - 18 places scored by Sinn Fein , the leader - Jerry Addams. [four]
In accordance with the Northern Ireland Act 1998 , adopted under the Belfast Agreements, the creation of the Assembly was to take place in two stages. During the first, so-called pre-devolutionary stage, mechanisms, bodies and committees were created for the quick and effective final transfer of powers to the Northern Irish Parliament. In particular, a special committee was created to ensure the transfer of powers of the new assembly, and the provision on the creation of new departments was approved, including those providing for intergovernmental cooperation with the Republic of Ireland. As a result, by December 2, 1999, parliamentary powers were finally transferred to the Assembly. [five]
Parliamentary crises
On February 11, 2000, an international commission established under the Belfast Agreement announced that the Irish Republican Army had failed to fulfill its disarmament obligations, which led to the adoption of the new Northern Ireland Act, which limited Assembly action, presumably until May 30, 2000. This meant the return of direct rule in Northern Ireland. The next parliamentary crisis occurred in October 2002. For the first time, this was not connected with the disarmament process of the Irish Republican Army and other armed groups, but there was an intergovernmental scandal. During the scandal, representatives of Sinn Fein were charged with espionage, and three of them were subsequently convicted. In connection with these events, on April 28, 2003, right on the eve of the May elections, the Northern Ireland Assembly was again dissolved, and the elections were postponed to November 2003. [6] The November elections displaced the Ulster Unionist Party from a leading position and changed the parliamentary composition. The Democratic Unionist Party won 32 seats, Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party each got 20 seats, and the Social Democratic Labor Party won 18 seats in parliament. [7]
Since January 2004, the Assembly has been restored. [8] But at the end of the year, the largest robbery in the UK occurred - about 20 million pounds were stolen in one of the Belfast banks, during the investigation, the police announced their involvement in this IRA. In response to this, in February 2005, the Irish Republican Army abandoned the previously announced armistice plan. [9] As a result, a new Northern Ireland Act was issued in 2006, according to which power again passed from parliament to government. [10] After the adoption of this act, an interim Assembly was created, the members of which were 108 deputies elected in 2003. They decided to delegate all the powers to reassemble the assembly to the Northern Ireland government and convened new negotiations between the British and Irish governments in St. Andrews in October 2006. The St Andrews Agreements, signed on October 13, 2006, proclaimed the creation of a new Provisional Assembly, set a schedule for reinstating the Northern Ireland Parliament, setting an election deadline for the reinstated Assembly on March 7, 2007, and a final date for reinstating the Northern Ireland Assembly on March 26, 2007. . [eight]
In the 2007 elections, the Democratic Unionist Party won, with 36 seats in the Assembly, 28 Sinne Fein representatives, 18 Ulster Unionists, and 16 Social Democratic and Labor parties. [eleven]
As a result of the collapse of the government coalition in January 2017, after the leader of the nationalist party, Sinn Fein Martin McGuinness , resigned as deputy first minister, early elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly (Stormont) were held in this part of the country on April 3, 2017. [12] As a result of the elections, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein , with its new leader Michel O'Neill, took almost the same number of seats (with a gap of 1 seat) in the Assembly , [13] [14] which caused a deepening of disagreement between these ruling parties and led to a protracted crisis of power associated with the inability to form an active government in Northern Ireland. [15] After the early general elections in the UK on June 8, 2017, a minority government from a conservative party led by Theresa May began negotiations with the Youth Democratic Party to secure support for a vote in Parliament . [16] [17] However, many commentators and leading politicians in Ireland expressed the view that such a partnership could cast doubt on the principles of the Belfast Agreement. [18] [19] [20]
Further Settlement of the Brexit Agreement
The problem of Northern Ireland, along with financial issues, has become one of the most difficult in the negotiations of Great Britain with other EU countries on the conditions for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union . Both the European Union and Ireland and the United Kingdom are opposed to restoring the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, [21] [22] which is enshrined in the treaty and is also reflected in the preliminary final memorandum of the first phase of the Brexit negotiations, which ended in December 2017. . In February 2018, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, announced a draft future trilateral intergovernmental agreement proposing the establishment of a joint regulation zone between Ireland and Northern Ireland to continue the successful operation of the EU single market and EU customs union on the island of Ireland . [23]
Notes
- ↑ The Belfast Agreement text . cain.ulst.ac.uk. Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ Police in Northern Ireland . cain.ulst.ac.uk. Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ Kate Fearon. Northern Ireland Women's Coalition: The Institutionalization of Political Participation and Representation (2002). Date of treatment January 3, 2009. Archived February 17, 2011.
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1998 . www.ark.ac.uk. Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ The Predevolution or “Shadow” period. (inaccessible link) . www.niassembly.gov.uk . Date of treatment April 19, 2008. Archived on April 19, 2008.
- ↑ The Assembly after devolution unopened (inaccessible link) . www.niassembly.gov.uk . Date of treatment April 19, 2008. Archived on April 19, 2008.
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assembly Election Results 2003 . www.election.demon.co.uk . Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 Suspension and Restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly (unavailable link) . www.niassembly.gov.uk . Date of treatment April 19, 2008. Archived on April 19, 2008.
- ↑ Chronicle of the conflict in Northern Ireland (inaccessible link) . www.grani.ru . Date of treatment March 6, 2012. Archived March 6, 2012.
- ↑ Northern Ireland Act 2006 . www.opsi.gov.uk. Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ Northern Ireland election overview . news.bbc.co.uk. Date of treatment January 12, 2019.
- ↑ Early elections in Ulster: between the pros and cons of Brexit . euronews (March 2, 2017). Date of contact May 31, 2017.
- ↑ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). The pro-British party of DUP won the election in Northern Ireland | News from Germany about Europe | DW | 03/04/2017 . DW.COM. Date of contact May 31, 2017.
- ↑ Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland almost caught up with the Unionists , the BBC Russian Service (March 4, 2017). Date of contact May 31, 2017.
- ↑ Northern Ireland Failed to Form a Government (Rus.) , Trend.Az (March 27, 2017). Date of contact May 31, 2017.
- ↑ British conservatives will not enter into a coalition with the Northern Irish Unionists (Russian) , TASS . Date of treatment June 12, 2017.
- ↑ What kind of DUP party came to the rescue of Teresa May (English) , BBC Russian Service (June 9, 2017). Date of treatment June 12, 2017.
- ↑ Irish PM expresses 'concern' over DUP deal (English) , BBC News (June 11, 2017). Date of treatment June 12, 2017.
- ↑ Editor, John Walsh, Deputy Ireland . Enda Kenny: Tory alliance with DUP puts Good Friday agreement at risk . Date of treatment June 12, 2017.
- ↑ London and Dublin discussed the possible consequences of the union of conservatives and DUP (Russian) , RIA Novosti (20170611T1452 + 0300Z). Date of treatment June 12, 2017.
- ↑ Irish vision of Europe (Russian) , euronews (January 17, 2018). Date of treatment March 3, 2018.
- ↑ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). May considers draft EU exit agreement a threat to country's integrity | News from Germany about Europe | DW | 02/28/2018 . DW.COM. Date of treatment March 3, 2018.
- ↑ The EU invited Britain to jointly regulate the island of Ireland (Russian) , euronews (February 28, 2018). Date of treatment March 3, 2018.