UTV examines the Good Friday Agreement 25 years on from historic peace accord

The deal to get the Good Friday Agreement, in Belfast, on 10 April 1998, was a defining moment in the history of the place that around 1.8million of us call home.

The deal was a mark of compromise and agreement following decades of violence known as the Troubles.

Yet even those putting pen to paper couldn't unite on what it was called.

The Good Friday or Belfast Agreement was reached between the British and Irish Governments, along with political parties in Northern Ireland.

It created a new power-sharing arrangement, including an Executive and Assembly at Stormont, and was based on a series of fundamental principles.

These included parity of esteem of both communities, the principle of consent on Northern Ireland's constitutional status and the right of people born in Northern Ireland to identify and be accepted as British or Irish or both and to hold a both British and Irish citizenship.

In the years since the agreement was signed violence has reduced, but it's still far from completely gone.

At the start of this year, a senior police office, Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot in front of this son outside a leisure centre in Omagh, as he was loading footballs into the back of his car. He sustained life-changing injuries.

Just weeks later, the terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland was increased from "substantial", to "severe" meaning an attack is "highly likely".

While politicians were united in their condemnation of the attack, they haven't been as united when it comes to working at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were first elected to Stormont on 25 June 1998. The assembly held its first meeting on 1 July 1998, but it only existed in shadow form until 2 December 1999 when powers were finally devolved.

The years since have been rocky - with five suspensions. No executive was formed following the latest round of assembly elections in May 2022 due to ongoing stalemate over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In a news programme special, UTV takes a look at the road that lead to peace, how the agreement has unfolded in the decades since it was signed, as well as what lies ahead for generations to come.

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