In 1998, a peace agreement between groups of politicians in the North was signed. It became known as the Belfast Agreement. It has also been called the Good Friday Agreement because it was agreed on Good Friday of Easter week in 1998.
1998 Irish Times, 11th April
Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) signed.
© Irish Times1998 Irish Times, 11th April
© Irish Times
© Irish Times
1998 Irish Times, 11th April
Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) signed.
© Irish Times
In the Belfast Agreement, it was agreed that the union between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom would remain in place as long as the majority of the people in Northern Ireland wanted it. It was also agreed that the North would be governed by representatives of both the unionist and the nationalist sides. This is now known as power–sharing. It meant that Unionist and Nationalist politicians agreed to run a large amount of the Northern Ireland government together by becoming members of the new assembly in Stormont Castle in Belfast.
Many people from the north and south of Ireland and from other countries helped to work towards the Belfast Agreement. Bill Clinton, the US president at the time, worked to support the peace effort and in November 1995, he visited Northern Ireland. Important work was done by a US senator, Senator George Mitchel, who was appointed by Bill Clinton to help with the peace process. Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa at the time, also supported peace in the North of Ireland. The Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, were also strongly involved in the creation of the peace agreement.
The Belfast Agreement of Easter 1998 has helped to keep peace in the North of Ireland, however a terrible bombing was carried out only a few months after it the Belfast Agreement was signed.
The Omagh Bombing
Not everybody in the north of Ireland was happy with the peace agreement in 1998. Some wanted to continue to fight and use violence to get what they wanted. One group carried out a car bombing in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone on the 15th of August 1998. The bombing has been blamed on a group who opposed the Belfast Agreement. This group are known as the Real Irish Republican Army.
Omagh Bombing
Twenty-nine people were killed as a result of a car bombing in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone on the 15th of August 1998. The bombing has been blamed on a group who opposed the Belfast Agreement.
Copyright The Irish TimesOmagh Bombing
Copyright The Irish Times
Copyright The Irish Times
Omagh Bombing
Twenty-nine people were killed as a result of a car bombing in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone on the 15th of August 1998. The bombing has been blamed on a group who opposed the Belfast Agreement.
Copyright The Irish TimesThe bomb attack caused a terrible massacre in Omagh. Twenty-nine people were killed as a result of the bomb. Many of those who died were school children and young students. The youngest victim, Maura Monaghan, was only eighteen months old. About 220 people were injured in the bombing in Omagh; many of them were seriously injured. The bombing was condemned by people in Ireland and all over the world.
In 1998, President Clinton made a second visit to the North. He met many people who had lost relatives in the Omagh bomb attack or who had been injured that day. He later unveiled a plaque to honour the victims.