Does anyone regret voting for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998?

tdf7187

Personally I do. In hindsight, we should not have deleted Articles 2 and 3 from our Constitution. It was too much of a concession to make to the people who can't decide if they're Irish or British.

I do not favour reunification of our national territory using violent means, I would consider that counter-productive. We all know that the Provos failed to achieve re-unification in spite of a 30 year bombing and shooting campaign.

O'Neill

Eurgh...what's the point...

John Doe1

As an Ulster protestant from Donegal, I strongly disagree.

The Good Friday/Belfast agreement stopped a war. NI is as British as it Irish and for a foreign nation to have a territorial claim on your country was always going to create tension in the unionist community.

tdf7187

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118026880#Comment_118026880

Do you not think it's a bit silly to describe the 26 counties as a foreign nation?

Brucie Bonus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118026880#Comment_118026880

Its pretty ridiculous to section off the Irish province of Ulster and call the unoccupied parts a foreign nation. We'd our own loo lah call it overseas.

I'm glad the violence pretty much stopped.

endacl

No. Not at all. I’d vote for it again.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058213361/does-anyone-regret-voting-for-the-good-friday-agreement-in-1998

Absolutely no regrets here.

Two people a week died during the troubles. Every week. For 30 years! In a country as small as Ireland that is a horrific cost to bear.

Shao Kahn

The troubles allowed the worst elements in society to flourish.

The GFA allows the good / decent people in society to flourish.

There are young men and women, born around the time of the GFA, who have known nothing other than (relative) peace in their lives growing up on both sides of the border. That's an incredible achievement which should never be underestimated or disregarded.

It's certainly not perfect. But with every passing year of peace, more possibilities grow.

No regrets. But the way the British are dealing with Brexit suggests to me we don;t have to take any agreement with them seriously

dudley72

People getting killed from all communities.

Peace in Ireland finally after how many years? 7-800 years?

No border between the countries

People from both countries working and living together in peace

Over a billion been invested by the government to help more in the next few years

No f**king chance.

Timberrrrrrrr

I would vote for it again in a heartbeat, as others have said it helped bring peace to the island. Those of us old enough to remember switching on the TV every night and seeing another murder or another bomb going off will always be happy to see the end of that.

John Doe1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118026948#Comment_118026948

I am describing how your average unionist in say Carrickfergus or Bangor would see ROI, There are parts of NI which have very little interaction with Irish culture and would absolutely see ROI as a foreign nation.

There a million unionists in NI, they are not just Irishmen pretending to be British, they are genetically and culturally closer to the neighbouring island.

It is like telling a Turkish Cypriot that they are Greek Cypriot just because they have happen to share the same island.

Nermal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027150#Comment_118027150

If the UK triggers article 16 of the NIP, we should consider the agreement repudiated and hold a referendum on the re-insertion Articles 2 & 3.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118026880#Comment_118026880

As a fellow Ulster Protestant (now expat), I couldn't agree more. Not much to add but it's a bit unnerving to see this kind of rhetoric where you've people supporting a foreign bad actor over the welfare of their own nation.

Nobody in Northern Ireland can't decide if they're Irish or British. Everyone I've met from there identifies as Irish including my own staunchly Protestant family from Donegal. Anyone feeling British feels British. There's no indecisiveness in this regard.

Anyone looking to undermine it because it's somehow impeding the trainwreck that is Brexit isn't worth listening to IMO. Imagine selling out your own nation because of the fools and bigots governing the UK.

OneEightSeven

I would have voted against it because of the birthright citizenship loophole it created.

Cassius99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027757#Comment_118027757

Possibly not the greatest example to use. Having lived and worked in Cyprus I've found that most Cypriots, regardless of ethnicity want to refer to themselves as just that - Cypriot. It's only outside influences that have emphasized the Greek Cypriot/Turkish Cypriot divide in the communities.

Manic Moran

What, something of 96% of us voted in favour? I was one of them.

On the one hand, you have a war which may well be stopped. Every other evening, it was "Bongg..... Bongg..... Bongg..... (With the same still painting on the tv).... Good evening. In Belfast/Derry/Armagh today....."

On the other hand, you have a declaration of claim which isn't happening in practical terms anyway, there's no difference between that an a declared aspiration. Is that unattainable claim really worth all the bother? Who knows, maybe one day NI will choose to flip over. If they do, great. If not, at least the island is a lot more peaceful.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028189#Comment_118028189

Lucky for you then you got your say on that in 2004.

mikethecop

only some one who wasn't around during the troubles would start a thread like this

fcuk me its like we are de evolving as a race

paul71

There are probably 3,000 to 5,000 alive today, who would otherwise not be with us were it not for the GFA. That is the only consideration that has any validity.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118027757#Comment_118027757

I was in a furniture shopin the Waterside of Derry a number of years ago and the sales person had no concept of where Galway was when I asked them about delivery to the republic.

Equally I was chatting with some people in a unionist town in north Down and they too had no real grasp of the geography of the republic and things like that.

It's a foreign country to them.

And I'm fine with that.

freshpopcorn

I'm nearly 29 and grew up in Cork so clearly I didn't vote for it but I believe I would have voted in favor of it.

However I would know a few lads who'd be against it who'd be my age going by stuff they'd say. It's mainly from stuff they read online.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028810#Comment_118028810

Exactly the same thought as I had....

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028827#Comment_118028827

1000% this... it might not have been a perfect solution but it saved thousands of lives...

id vote for it again.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118029695#Comment_118029695

This is the problem with some political parties trying to change history and spin a new agenda. What happened and what is been told happened are two totally different things if you listen to some people.

The problem is people believe the bulls**t that is been spun. It was a study done in US, I can't remember the exact percentage but a bulls**t story was more likely to be shared and spread than what actually happened. It really is a disgrace

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118028810#Comment_118028810

People who don't remember the past are basically doomed to repeat it unfortunately.

paul71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118029953#Comment_118029953

I've heard that comment is attributed to Edmund Burke but never found a reiable source to verify it, do you know if its origins were with Burke Ancapaildorcha?

Tork

I grew up listening to those news bulletins too and even to this day, when I hear certain place names in Northern Ireland, they remind me of atrocities. When I was a kid in the late 80s, my family travelled to the north. I clearly remember armed soldiers walking along the high street of the town we were in and our car being stopped at some point. The GFA isn't perfect but I don't think any solution would have been. The worst side effect of it has been the near annihilation of the SDLP and UUP in favour of Sinn Fein and the DUP. The DUP in particular is doing the north no favours but that's a matter for another thread.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118030092#Comment_118030092

I know it's a misquote and that's about it, unfortunately.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118030159#Comment_118030159

Neither SF or the DUP are doing anything in the North. If you kicked both parties out you would have a lot more progress in the 20+ years. Both of those parties prefer to spend years bickering with each other and doing absolutely nothing. Imagine shutting down the government for 3 years and both parties sat at home on full pay. Disgraceful

Tombo2001

Gas how some people cant recognise or admit that Northern Ireland and ROI are two different countries. Really folks......