Cathal Crowe
Question:117. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs how his Department proposes to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. [13500/23]
View answerTuesday, 21 March 2023
Questions (117)
Written answers
The Good Friday Agreement, signed almost 25 years ago in Belfast, remains a remarkable achievement, one that brought peace and transformed this island. To mark that achievement, and the Government is co-ordinating a programme of events to celebrate the peace and to underline the ongoing centrality of the Agreement to relationships across these islands. The programme will acknowledge significant contributions from people on these islands, the US, the EU and further afield.
The centrepiece of the Government programme is a cultural performance in the Abbey Theatre on 2 April, representing the rich traditions of these islands in a reflection on the Agreement, its legacy, and what can be achieved in the next 25 years.
This year's global Saint Patrick’s Day 2023 programme had a strong focus on the Anniversary. Our diplomatic missions have undertaken a range of events engaging with political and civil society partners on the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement, with a particularly strong level of engagement in the United States.
During my own visit to the United States last week I gave a keynote address at an event organised by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy to mark the anniversary of the Agreement. This event, also attended by Secretary Clinton and a range of political and civil society leaders in Northern Ireland, shows the ongoing commitment our friends in the US have to furthering the process of peace and reconciliation on our island.
It is important that all three Strands of the Agreement are reflected in the anniversary programme and to that end work is ongoing to consider how the North South Ministerial Council and its subsidiary bodies, established under Strand Two of the Agreement, can best engage.
My Department has already awarded funding to a number of community partners for projects related to the anniversary, through the Reconciliation Fund.
A key focus will naturally be events in Belfast in April to mark the anniversary, which will see high level attendance from across Northern Ireland, the UK, the US and other key interlocutors. The Government will participate at political level at these events and looks forward to engaging with our partners on this transformative milestone in our shared history.