Democratic Institutions and the Good Friday Agreement

Peace and shared government

For many years Northern Ireland lived through a long and painful period of conflict, in which people from its two main community traditions often saw the future of the region very differently. In 1998 a landmark settlement, the Good Friday Agreement, also called the Belfast Agreement, set out a way for those communities to stop the violence and share the running of Northern Ireland together. It created new democratic institutions in which decisions are made jointly rather than by one side alone, and it built in protections so that everyone is treated fairly whatever their background. This module explains what the Agreement set up and why it matters: how power was passed to a local government, how that government shares decisions across the community, the principle of consent, the right to hold British or Irish citizenship or both, and the safeguards for rights, equality and language. It describes these institutions factually and takes no side.

Words for the Agreement

Learn these terms before the features are matched up. They name the ideas used in this topic.

Match each feature to what it means

One group ruling against governing together

The Agreement chose one of two very different ways to run a divided society, and the contrast shows why.

What citizenship can people hold?

Under the Good Friday Agreement, a person born in Northern Ireland may choose to hold citizenship that is which of these?

• British, Irish, or both
• British only, with no other choice
• Irish only, with no other choice
• Neither, until they turn eighteen

Sharing a home fairly

The heart of the Agreement is a simple, difficult idea: people who disagree deeply about the future can still run their shared home together, fairly, in the meantime. So the settlement was built to make sure neither main tradition could simply overrule the other. Big decisions are designed to need support from across the community, not just a bare majority of one side. Rights and equality are protected for everyone, whatever their background, so that no group has to fear the government. Both main cultural traditions, and the languages tied to them, are given respect. And the door is left open to peaceful, democratic change if most people ever want it. None of this settles the old arguments; it simply agrees a fair way to live and govern side by side while they continue. That is why it is studied as a model of managing a divided society.

Pick what the Good Friday Agreement set up

Select every feature that the 1998 Agreement actually established.

• A government shared across the main traditions
• The principle that the region changes status only by consent
• Safeguards for human rights and equality
• Permanent rule by a single party
• An end to all future elections

Order how a shared government is formed

Put the steps of forming a power-sharing government into a sensible order.

• People vote for members in an election
• Seats are shared out among the parties elected
• Parties from across the community agree to work together
• Ministers are appointed to form the Executive
• The Assembly meets and makes laws for the region

Complete the democracy facts

Passing power from a central parliament to a local one, such as the Northern Ireland Assembly, is called _____. A government in which the main traditions govern together, rather than one ruling alone, is called _____-sharing. The principle that the status of Northern Ireland changes only if a majority of its people agree is the principle of _____. The elected body that makes laws for Northern Ireland is the _____.

Tap the two features of the Agreement

Read these four statements. Tap the TWO that are real features of the Good Friday Agreement.

• government shared across the main traditions
• the right to hold British or Irish citizenship or both
• permanent rule by one group
• a ban on minority languages

Two clubs, one shared hall

Imagine two clubs that have long argued but must share a single community hall. If one club were simply handed the keys, it would book every slot and set every rule, and the other would feel shut out and stop cooperating, and before long the arguing would spill over again. So instead they agree a fairer arrangement. They run the hall through a joint committee where both clubs are represented, the big decisions need both to agree, and clear rules protect each club from being pushed aside. Neither club has changed its mind about the things they disagree on, but they have found a workable way to share the hall peacefully in the meantime. Governing a divided society can work in the same spirit: not by one side winning, but by agreeing fair rules so everyone has a voice and a stake in how things are run.

The democratic institutions run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Understand the institutions

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A big decision affects both main traditions. How is it meant to be passed?
• Someone asks whether the status of Northern Ireland can change. What does the principle of consent say?
• A pupil wants to respect both traditions in a school project. What fits the Agreement?

Build a point about shared government

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about the Agreement.

Explain the Good Friday Agreement

A friend asks what the Good Friday Agreement did. Using what you have learned, explain it fairly and factually.

• Explain what the Agreement set out to achieve
• Explain what devolution and power-sharing mean
• Explain the principle of consent
• Explain the right to British and Irish citizenship
• Explain one safeguard the Agreement built in for fairness