News

Good Friday agreement flawed, expert says

(8 April 2008)

The Good Friday Agreement, signed 10 years ago this Thursday (10 April 2008), has “serious shortcomings” according to a Durham University expert.

Professor Rodney Wilson, lecturer in the School of Government and International Affairs, said: “The Good Friday agreement is seen by many outside Northern Ireland as a success, but it has serious shortcomings and may not be the best way forward in the longer term. “The power sharing system has entrenched the position of the sectarian parties and has made the secularisation of politics in Northern Ireland less likely. Both the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein have every reason for wanting the present system to continue, as if there ever was an all Ireland state Sinn Fein, would be in the political wilderness as it has minimal support in the Republic. “David Trimble and his Ulster Unionists seriously miscalculated ten years ago, and have paid the political price. The Democratic Unionists look likely to govern for a long time and post-Paisley, the future of Northern Ireland lies in the hands of Peter Robinson now that he has finished the career of Paisley junior. “Robinson will have a difficult task, as although the Northern Ireland economy has improved remarkably, with unemployment at an historic low of 4.2 percent, large numbers are on disability benefits and there remains a heavy dependence on public sector jobs. Productivity remains significantly lower than in the Republic or the rest of the United Kingdom.”