This month’s ARINS podcast examines how the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement has functioned over the 25 years since it was signed, and how it is currently received. Host Rory Montgomery speaks with Professor Alan Renwick and Conor J. Kelly authors of the UCL constitution unit’s report on Perspectives on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: Examining Diverse Views, 1998-2003.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/publications/unit-reports

The report offers an array of perspectives shared in political party manifestos, in interviews and in focus groups for UCL’s constitution unit. The insights offered by politicians, academics, civil society representatives, from across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland, Britain and Ireland, show the impact and importance of the Agreement after twenty five years and identify the ways in which the different strands of the agreement have instituted a robust level of stability thus far weathering perceived vulnerabilities including wavering interest from London and Dublin and the ebb and flow of trust in and from political parties. The report’s findings demonstrate the success of the agreement as a peace treaty and the need for unwavering commitment from the parties to peace to listen to the needs, fears and anxieties of the constituencies and communities in Northern Ireland.

Professor Alan Renwick, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit in UCL. He also chaired the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland. He is an expert in the mechanisms through which citizens can participate in formal politics.

Conor J. Kelly is a PhD student at Birkbeck College, University of London. He previously worked for the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland.

This is episode 26 of a podcast series that provides evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south.Host Rory Montgomery, MRIA, talks to authors of articles on topics such as cross border health co-operation; the need to regulate social media in referendums, education, cultural affairs and constitutional questions and the imperative for good data and the need to carry out impartial research.ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com.ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.