Rishi Sunak calls for Stormont return for Good Friday Agreement anniversary
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has praised the political leaders who shaped Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement on its 25th anniversary, calling it “born of partnership between the British and Irish governments.”
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended Northern Ireland’s decades-long violent conflict known as the Troubles.
Sunak called on Stormont politicians to “get on with the business of governance” and commended those who “took difficult decisions, accepted compromise, and showed leadership.”
He also welcomed US President Joe Biden to Northern Ireland as part of the milestone date.
Sunak said it was important to reflect on the progress made since the agreement but also to recommit to fulfilling the promise of economic opportunity, prosperity and stability made in 1998.
Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government since February 2022 when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) collapsed the Stormont executive. The DUP is boycotting Stormont because of objections to post-Brexit trade rules, which they believe cut Northern Ireland off from the rest of the UK.
Sunak said he stood ready to work with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and local parties to ensure the institutions are running again as soon as possible.
