After years of stalemate, the UK government has committed to implementing the legacy institutions set out in the 2014 agreement to restore Stormont as part of the January 2020 agreement. However, uncertainty remains, particularly over how Johnson`s government will handle investigations into former members of the British security services for their actions in the Northern Ireland conflict. Northern Ireland`s political parties in favour of the agreement were also invited to consider the creation of an independent consultation forum representing civil society with members with expertise in social, cultural, economic and other issues, appointed by both administrations. A framework for the North-South Consultation Forum was agreed in 2002 and in 2006 the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to support its establishment. This is because the Good Friday Agreement reached complicated agreements between the different parties. The three strands of the pact created a network of institutions to govern Northern Ireland (Orientation One), to bring together the leaders of Northern Ireland with those of Ireland (Strand Two or North-South Cooperation), and to bring together leaders from across the United Kingdom and Ireland (Strand Three or East-West Cooperation). There are currently more than 140 areas of cross-border cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including health services, energy infrastructure and policing. Many experts and political leaders fear that any interruption in this cooperation will undermine confidence in the agreement and thus in the foundations of peace in Northern Ireland. On 10 April 1998, the so-called Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) was signed. This agreement helped end a period of conflict in the region known as Troubles. The agreement provided that Northern Ireland would be part of the United Kingdom and would remain so until a majority of the population of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland otherwise wished.

If this happens, the British and Irish governments will be subject to a “binding commitment” to implement this election. The old text contains only four articles; it is this short text that is the legal agreement, but it includes the latter agreement in its annexes. [7] Technically, this envisaged agreement can be distinguished as a multi-party agreement as opposed to the Belfast Agreement itself. [7] Although Prime Minister Johnson and Irish leaders have promised to protect the Good Friday agreement, some Brexiteers have taken the opportunity to criticise the agreement`s power-sharing institutions, arguing that the pact is outdated. Some DUP members who opposed the agreement in 1998 also questioned the agreements it reached. The multi-party agreement is an agreement between the British Government, the Irish Government and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland. It established the support of the signatory parties to the British-Irish Agreement and provided the framework for various political institutions. It is divided into three parts: the agreement provided for the transfer of authority over certain policy areas from the British Parliament to a newly created assembly in Belfast, and it paved the way for paramilitary groups to give up their weapons and join the political process. It has contributed to a sharp decline in violence, and the annual death toll, which peaked at 480 in 1972, has fallen to one figure in recent years. The IRA renewed its ceasefire on 20 July 1997, paving the way for the inclusion of Sinn Féin in the inter-party talks that had begun under Mitchell`s presidency.

However, the issue of dismantling remained and the British and Irish governments tried to obscure the issue rather than let it derail the process again. This led to Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leaving the talks and never returning. The DUP rejected the idea of making concessions to Northern Ireland`s constitutional position or negotiating with Sinn Féin, which it considered terrorist. Although deeply dissatisfied, the more moderate UUP remained in the talks. Given the DUP`s stated desire to break off talks, Mitchell later wrote in his memoirs that their decision to withdraw actually helped reach an agreement. However, this is expected to have a lasting impact on Northern Ireland`s policy, as the DUP`s opposition to the Good Friday Agreement has seriously hampered its implementation. Sinn Féin entered the multi-party talks on 15 September 1997 after signing the Mitchell Principles. Both views were recognized as legitimate. For the first time, the Irish government has agreed in a binding international agreement that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.

[9] The Irish Constitution has also been amended to implicitly recognise Northern Ireland as part of the territory of the United Kingdom,[7] subject to the consent of the majority of the population of the island`s two jurisdictions to a united Ireland. .