A ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement is organised during the plenary session in the European Parliament, in Brussels. The GFA, also known as the Belfast Agreement, was signed on 10 April 1998 by the British and Irish governments, and confirmed by referendums in Ireland and Northern Ireland in May the same year. The agreement established devolved political power-sharing structures for the nationalist and unionist communities in Northern Ireland, and brought the 30-year period of violent conflict in Northern Ireland, known as The Troubles, to an end. Statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President. The transcription is the result of an automatic process. Please, check against delivery.

Brussels

statement

ceremony

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Ireland (T)

peace process in Northern Ireland (T)

president's agenda

Ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Dear friends, there are few examples in European history of a people's peace agreement, such as the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement brokered by the people of all of Northern Ireland, aided by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland and supported by the European Union and the United States of America, endorsed by people on both parts of the Island of Ireland agreeing to lift borders that divided communities defended by the people during post-Brexit uncertainty.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, When the importance of the agreement became even more relevant. Time and again over the years, the European Union and this Parliament reiterated its unwavering support for the hard earned peace process on the island of Ireland. Going forward, the 2023 Windsor framework lays down arrangements for the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. It will charter a new way forward towards ending post-Brexit uncertainties.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Dear Europeans. The European Peace Project was born from the ashes of World Wars. It has the ambition of bringing people together in the hope of lasting peace and prosperity. Nobel Peace Prize laureate John HUME said in this House, and as we just heard in the video, "We all have to learn, is what peoples of Europe land, difference is not something we should be engaged in conflict about. It is something we should respect".

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Europe is a place of reconciliation where everyone's voice counts and this European Parliament is a place where the peoples of Europe have come together, setting aside past resentment to talk and to listen. The transcripts of the dialogue held in this Parliament between former members of the European Parliament from Northern Ireland is evidence of that willingness to set aside animosity and that willingness to talk and to listen.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And this House evidently provided a platform for this dialogue for peace. 25 years ago, members of the European Parliament welcomed the Belfast Good Friday Agreement with warm and heartfelt admiration and with gratitude because Northern Ireland's people reminded all Europeans of the fundamental values on which Europe's peace and prosperity lay. Over 25 years of peace, people's daily lives in Northern Ireland has been transformed.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, They no longer live with the threat of violence. All Ireland cooperation is everywhere to be seen. And yet this Belfast Good Friday Agreement still needs nurturing. Issues relating to social justice and civic cooperation was central to the agreement. Civil activists and promoters of peace in Northern Ireland know that commitment to civil and political rights is key. The agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And all of us here believe in parliamentary democracy, and we will do what we can to promote that concept. And I look forward to being able to exchange ideas with parliamentarians in Northern Ireland. And as that young woman in the video said, if the Good Friday Agreement were to go, I it might probably might be quite scary.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And that is why we are marking the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in this House of European Democracy today, because preserving peace is also important and listening to all sides respectfully is key. I give the floor now to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. The floor is yours.