This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement and what many perceive as a quarter-century of sustained peace. But peace is more than just the absence of violence, and analysing Northern Ireland’s woeful socioeconomic state reveals the peace process has been allowed to stagnate. With Stormont in stasis once again, now is not the time to reminisce – it is time to break the cycle of political apathy and revive the promise of the peace process. Key in doing so are Northern Ireland’s peace babies.
The agreement is lauded as one of the most successful peace deals of the past century but the vast majority of its mechanisms and commitments to build social cohesion, improve equality and deliver an economic peace dividend have never been realised. Social housing remains 90 per cent segregated, education remains 90 per cent segregated, and more than 100 “peace walls” still stand.
Lasting effects resulting from a failure to deliver on socioeconomic commitments within the agreement continue to be felt by the North’s youth, leading a disproportionately high volume of young people to leave Northern Ireland in a phenomenon referred to as “brain drain”. A 2021 survey from think-tank Pivotal indicated that the majority of those who leave opt not to return. Respondents cited poor community relations as a key motivator, adding that political divisions were a significant push factor. In the words of Lyra McKee, “We were the Good Friday Agreement generation, destined to never witness the horrors of war but to reap the spoils of peace. The spoils just never seemed to reach us.”
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More than 600,000 people have been born in Northern Ireland since 1998, growing up under a sustained period of peace, but trapped by the same historical binds and divisions as their parents and grandparents. Despite this, evidence demonstrates that this generation is determined not to be defined by the divisions of the past; 49 per cent of 18-24-year-olds in the 2020 Northern Ireland Life and Times survey stated they did not identify as unionist or nationalist.
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A 2006 report from the Electoral Commission indicated worrying levels of disillusionment within Northern Ireland’s previous youth generation, with 41 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds who took part stating that politicians do not make an effort to listen to young people. These responses echo those found in research from the Northern Ireland Youth Forum in 2021, in which 62 per cent of 16-21-year-olds agreed, or strongly agreed, that politicians did not value their views or opinions. . Close to half stated that they did not feel politics had changed in the past 20 years at all. This is a new generation feeling the same disillusionment as those before them.
In order for the 25th anniversary of the agreement to have meaning, the Belfast Agreement generation needs to be in the room; It’s their future, and it’s upon their shoulders that the agreement’s potential rests. A true sense of inclusion also entails active participation, with the opportunity not just to be seen and to listen and to learn, but to contribute.
In many ways it could be argued that what we have in Northern Ireland is a negative peace
Herein lies the problem: not enough has been done to equip the next generation of peace builders and political leaders with the resources and skills necessary to better take forward the peace process. A lack of future-proofing and succession-planning has led to an ageing society of peace builders, with the majority of Northern Ireland peace workers at, or entering, retirement age. When it comes to the peace process, there is a tendency to look backwards.
In order to truly equip this generation, there needs to be an urgent review of the curriculum to embed modules on active citizenship, the electoral system, and how the peace process relates to their everyday life. Young people need to be able to take ownership of the Agreement, but they have to see themselves in it first. This review should be complimented with a special educational workshop rolled out in schools – not just in Northern Ireland, but across the island – which asks young people themselves to articulate what peace looks like to them. According to a recent Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes poll half of young people in the Republic do not understand Northern Ireland’s conflict, with one in four saying they do not know if they support the Belfast Agreement. Education is key to tackling this indifference.
Arts and music – universal languages through which generations have communicated their aspirations throughout recorded history – also remain underutilised tools for reconciliation in the North. This anniversary should be a celebration in which schools and academies for the arts should be provided the funding to cultivate creative and ambitious programmes. An all-island youth forum, and youth-led workshops could provide more spaces for young people to examine the peace process. And importantly, the Belfast Agreement generation should have meaningful participation in events marking the anniversary.
There have been seven subsequent agreements since 1998 – not one of them has been fully implemented. In many ways it could be argued that what we have in Northern Ireland is a negative peace, as we don’t have the sustained institutions and structures necessary to constitute a positive peace. Isn’t it time to consider that the missing link here may be the absence of the fresh, imaginative viewpoints and perspectives fostered by the generation the agreement was created for? The 25th anniversary is an opportunity to correct course, an endeavour that necessitates the enlistment of younger demographics to forge new pathways to find the solutions politics cannot.
Emma DeSouza is a writer and political commentator