On May 22nd 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was endorsed by the majority of the people of Ireland. The Agreement is the product of inclusive negotiations involving the parties and the Irish and British governments. It is an all-Ireland Agreement which recognises the failure of partition and commits us to building a society based on equality and justice. Sinn Féin views the Agreement as transitional in nature and supports its full implementation.
For eighteen months the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party blocked the formation of the institutions and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. In Autumn 1999 Senator George Mitchell was brought in by the British and Irish governments to conduct a Review. On November 15th the Mitchell Review concluded with agreement that the institutions be established and that the decommissioning issue be dealt with by General de Chastelain and the Independent International Commission on decommissioning.
On May 22 1998, more than two million people across Ireland voted for the Good Friday Agreement, an international Agreement which was the collective product of inclusive negotiations and a compromise between political opponents. While the Agreement itself does not resolve the causes of conflict, it does, if implemented, set out a political and institutional framework within which many of the causes of conflict can be addressed.
