Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement, also called the Belfast Agreement, was a peace accord that largely ended the violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was agreed between the British and Irish governments and most of the Northern Irish political parties, after talks chaired by the American senator George Mitchell. The deal created a power-sharing Assembly and executive in which unionists and nationalists took part, set up cross-border bodies, and promised the release of paramilitary prisoners and reform of policing. It affirmed that Northern Ireland's status could change only with the consent of a majority of its people, and the Republic of Ireland dropped its constitutional claim to the whole island. It was approved in referendums on both sides of the border, and John Hume and David Trimble received the Nobel Peace Prize.

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