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The Good Friday Agreement
By Amar James Goindi, George James Heracleous, and Alex James Crawford
Background- Why have a referendum?• Key issue = constitutional status of Northern Ireland, and relationship between its two main
communities:• Unionists/ loyalists = Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in UK.• Irish Nationalists/ Republicans = Catholic, wanted a united Ireland and to leave UK.
• Violence characterised by armed campaigns of Paramilitary groups (i.e. The IRA).
• Political deadlock between major political parties, including those who condemned the violence -> Unable to reach decision on future status of N. Ireland.
• Effect of Thatcher:• Violent deaths related to the conflict rose to 101 in 1981 from 76 the year before, including
44 members of the security forces. • Injuries rose to 1,350 from 801.• Shootings increased to 1,142 from 642, and bombings reached nearly 400 that year. • IRA's attempted assassination of Thatcher herself at the Conservative Party Conference in
1984. The prime minister narrowly escaped, but five others were killed.
The “Yes” Campaign
• Both Labour and the Conservatives supported the “Yes” vote
• Smaller parties such as Northern Ireland Peace Forum, the Ulster Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin, Alliance, Lib Dems, Progressive Unionist Party, Ulster Democratic Party, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
The “No campaign”
• The only parties who supported the no campaign were the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Unionist Party
Key figures
• Ian Paisley, Leader of the DUP- campaigned “No”
• Billy Hutchinson Leader of the PUP- Campaigned “No”
• Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice- Campaigned “Yes”
• Bono- Campaigned “Yes”
