Speech by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar marking 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement at Queen’s University Belfast

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Dia dhaoibh go léir.

Good afternoon, Secretary Clinton, President Clinton, Prime Minister Sunak, President von der Leyen, President Michel, University President Ian Greer, Honoured guests.

My thanks to everyone here in Queen’s for the wonderful conference you have hosted over the past three days. Reflective, diverse, engaging and challenging – everything that we would expect from a university that produced some of the finest thinkers, leaders, and poets of these islands.

The Good Friday Agreement, concluded 25 years ago, challenged our assumptions of what we once thought possible. It gave us a pathway to a better future.

Even in the final weeks leading up to April 10th, many believed that it would not be possible to reach an Agreement with which all sides could live. The difficult compromises required were seen as political impossibilities for many involved and observing. But vision, leadership and optimism triumphed.

Leaders defied assumptions of what was possible. They also defied those within their own communities who would have preferred to stay mired in conflict to avoid concessions or compromise. They realised that to see their way to a better future, they had to reject the divisions and differences that had kept Northern Ireland stuck in what seemed an unresolvable impasse for decades.

These were not easy decisions to make and some paid a high personal and political price.

I know that earlier in this conference there was much reflection on the contribution made by the leaders of 1998, including those who we have sadly lost in the time since.

They were architects of that better future, and, on behalf of all of us, I pay tribute to them and what they achieved. And as someone who has lived most of my life in the period after the GFA was signed, I thank them from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of my generation.

Without the courage and vision of leaders from right across the political traditions of these islands, we would not have a peace to celebrate today. We would not have had prosperity or investment on the scale we have experienced. I do not think we would have reversed the tide of emigration or made the social progress we have made in the decades since.

Chancellor,

Few could have imagined the degree to which the Good Friday Agreement would transform relationships at every level across these islands. As we face new challenges, we should not lose sight of this.

The architects of the Agreement understood the importance of looking towards the future. Speaking on receipt of the Nobel Prize, David Trimble said: “there are Hills in Northern Ireland and there are mountains. […] The dark shadow we seem to see in the distance is not really a mountain ahead, but the shadow of the mountain behind – a shadow from the past thrown forward into our future. …… We can leave it behind us if we wish.”

Lord Trimble challenged us all. He challenged us to look towards the future and challenged us to make the active choices required to help us avoid the mistakes of the past.

The Agreement created a space in which people could articulate and work for the future that they wish to see. And it recognises that we do not need to have the same aspirations in order to cooperate with one another.

The Agreement achieved a delicate but vitally important balance on totemic issues, strengthened by core principles including that of consent and of parity of esteem.

It recognised the need to encompass the totality of relationships - those within Northern Ireland, North South and between Britain and Ireland. I don’t think this will change.

It recognised that people could be British or Irish or both and there is a growing middle ground increasingly willing to do so. That’s significant.

Chancellor, I believe,

The principle of consent is vital to the Agreement’s success. For nationalists it lays out a democratic path to a United Ireland. For unionists, it recognises Northern Ireland’s status as part of the UK and that this will remain the case unless and until a majority of the people of Northern Ireland wish this to change. And indeed, a majority in the South too.

In recognition of these delicate balances, in the Republic we went directly to the people via referendum in order to change our constitution to take account of the principle of consent. With over 90% voting Yes in the Republic and over 70% in the North, we had clear democratic consent for an agreed way forward perhaps for the first time in centuries.

Here in Belfast today I rededicate the Irish Government to continue to work with all the parties in Northern Ireland and with our partners in London to drive the process forward to the benefit of all the people of these islands.

Both governments have an ongoing obligation to honour and implement the Agreement and that is why I am so pleased to share a stage with Prime Minister Sunak for the first time in Belfast.

The peace process has always been at its strongest when the two governments have worked hand in glove. And Northern Ireland works best when the two governments work together.

A partnership approach – often based on difficult decisions – has been decisive in driving things forward. From the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, to the Downing Street Declaration, to the Good Friday Agreement itself and the milestones that have followed.

To quote the Prime Minister, “the Agreement was born of partnership” Together, we can make the Good Friday Agreement fulfil its promise of reconciliation and shared achievement.

Colleagues, I am delighted that so many of our international friends are here with us. While the Agreement belongs, first and foremost, to the people of Britain and Ireland, it was, built with the help of our partners from around the world.

It is impossible to list all of the individuals that made their mark on our process of peace and reconciliation, but I would like in particular to point to the role of the United States, the EU, South Africa, Finland and Canada. Even hearing that list will evoke for each of us a roll-call of individuals to whom we owe deep appreciation.

I am grateful to you all, those with us and those who travelled the journey of peace with us, for your support over many decades.

This is not simply a matter of history. You have heard directly from President von der Leyen and President Michel of their ongoing commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and to Northern Ireland.

Last week, President Biden spoke powerfully of his, and the United States’, ongoing commitment to peace and reconciliation on this island.

Special Envoy Kennedy’s presence with us today is further concrete proof of this. A reminder of the opportunities that lie ahead, if we reach together.

The peace process has given us the opportunity to unlock those possibilities. It has helped to unlock prosperity.

And because of the peace and stability brought by the Good Friday Agreement, now parts of all our futures are being built in Northern Ireland.

Companies from around the world have come to Northern Ireland, creating jobs and prosperity. Indigenous enterprise has flourished. I believe there is better to come.

A prosperous Northern Ireland benefits us all. The all-island economy has so much potential to drive growth to the advantage of everyone.

And I believe that the Irish Government’s Shared Island Initiative can play an even greater role - investing for the future of this island, resolving issues that matter to people and finding better ways to work together and understand one another.

So, we will continue to engage with all communities and traditions on the island to build a vision for our shared future, in an inclusive, constructive approach, underpinned by the Agreement.

We also hope that the Windsor Framework will play an essential role in securing additional investment into Northern Ireland, as well as offering real economic benefits to communities across Northern Ireland.

The Framework has been welcomed by the business community in Northern Ireland, which has expressed a genuine desire to move forward and take advantage of the opportunities and economic certainty it offers.

A prosperous Northern Ireland is a place in which people want to live. A place that people want to make work. A place where young people will stay or return to.

Increasingly, people from around the world see Northern Ireland as part of their futures. In the 2021 census, over 124,000 people now living in Northern Ireland were born outside of the UK and Ireland. I think that will increase making Northern Ireland more diverse and less binary. That’s positive and interesting.

It is a testament to how far we have come that so many people from elsewhere have chosen to make Northern Ireland home.

But continued prosperity in Northern Ireland requires a functioning government. Public services need to be reformed and improved. The people of Northern Ireland deserve a functioning Executive and Assembly and NSMC.

The challenges of today require Northern Ireland’s leaders to make the decisions that affect their constituents on the ground.

In conclusion, I believe, the Good Friday Agreement was about defying historical expectations.

We need that kind of leadership still.

Speaking after the Agreement, John Hume said that: “unionists and nationalists have at last taken the future in their hands, have seized control of their history rather than letting history hold them in thrall.”

It is incumbent on Northern Ireland’s political leaders today to take the initiative. To see past ‘the shadow of the mountain behind’. To seize control of their history. And to lead their people into the future.

We as co-guarantors of the Agreement will be here, every step of the way.

Thank you.