From conflict to consensus : the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement the British-Irish and European Contexts

Since the EU is relevant to the Good Friday Agreement as a whole, the paper starts by touching upon how it both facilitated the Agreement and, yet, also hindered Strand 2 (North-South relations). Strand 3 (the British-Irish context) was itself a means of overcoming obstacles in the other strands. It involved few major obstacles but the paper outlines those that there were. It discusses the British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference and the British Irish Council. It also discusses two networks that are not part of the Agreement but are part of east-west relations: the Joint Ministerial Committee system and the British Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. In conclusion, the paper sets the Agreement in the context of the overall programme of devolution in the UK. It is argued that this, combined with the displacement of the UUP by the DUP, could either problematize Strand 3 or enhance its significance for Northern Ireland and in overall east-west relations.