Arms to Agreement: Northern Ireland’s Move from War to Peace

For over three decades, Northern Ireland endured one of the most violent and intractable conflicts. Those years brought into focus the fundamental issues that have underlain the ‘Irish Question’ for many years – the British presence in Ireland, the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, the tensions between unionism and nationalism, the search for equality between all sections of the community, and, above all, the use of terrorist violence to achieve political ends. This article considers the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which, over a decade later, is seen as a landmark accord contributing to securing peace in Northern Ireland. This article considers the negotiations leading to the Agreement and also examines the key factors that contributed to its success.