Twenty five years after the agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland, we will examine the intense negotiations leading to the North’s comprehensive political settlement in April 1998 and the critical referendum campaign in the weeks that followed. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said recently: "Twenty-five years ago, we achieved what some thought impossible. People chose to believe in the potential for peace and the promise of a better future. So it is absolutely right that now, in this anniversary year, we celebrate all those who took the decisive steps needed to make this happen." Perhaps the promise of the Agreement was never realized, but there is no doubt that the machinations of Brexit has complicated the situation.
Our panelists are: Richard Aldous, PhD., who is the Eugene Meyer Professor of British History and Literature at Bard College. Brian Murphy, PhD., PGDip is a lecturer in the College of Arts and Tourism, Technological University Dublin. Brian earned his doctorate in Modern Irish History from the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. He was the speech writer for Bertie Ahern, who was Taoiseach at the time of the Agreement. Rev. David Latimer, retired minister of First Derry Presbyterian Church, has worked for peace in Derry for over 30 years, and became friends with Martin McGuinness in 2007 when he asked him for help in stopping attacks on his church which overlooks the Bogside.