The peace process and equality : towards a transformed society

The Good Friday Agreement represents in an important sense the triumph of politics over darker forces in Irish society. Rather than seeking to define the contours of a final settlement, it lays out the ground rules in accordance with which political progress may be achieved. It represents a reversal of many of the more negative perspectives that were characteristic of the different parties to the conflict, such as the tendency to deny the nature of the problem and to attribute blame only to others. Change has been particularly traumatic for the unionist community, which has seen old certainties challenged. But the principle underlying the agreement, that of equality, offers the most secure prospect for a better life for all. It represents a shift from the old pattern of competition for supremacy between two communities to a new concern to transform the nature of the question in the pursuit of common interests.