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On May 22, 1998, the people of Northern Ireland turned out in unprecedented numbers to vote on what had become known as the Good Friday agreement , the latest inter-governmental attempt to create a political solution to the violence that has afflicted the North since the late 1960s. When the results were declared the following day (which, significantly, was the bicentenary of the 1798 Rebellion), 71.12 per cent had voted in favour of the settlement. Interpretations differed, but most analysts agreed that a majority of both Nationalist/Republican and, more remarkably, Unionist/Loyalist communities had given their support. Simultaneously, electors in the Republic overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement, thus mandating their government to renounce the Irish constitutional claim to the six counties that make up the North. This bilateral ratification was an undoubted triumph for all the agreement's signatories, but, much more momentously, only one possible conclusion could be drawn from the results of the referenda: after almost thirty years of the " Troubles ", the people of Northern Ireland had unequivocally expressed their desire for peace .
A month later saw the election of the new Assembly , the first organization to have (albeit limited) legislative and executive authority over the province since the Stormont Parliament was dissolved in 1972. David Trimble , leader of the Ulster Unionists, was appointed First Minister, a position since jeopardized by anti-Agreement factions within his own party, and Seamus Mallon of the Nationalist SDLP became Deputy Minister. However, dissident Republican hardliners expressed their opposition by a series of town centre bombings during the first half of 1998 culminating in a massive explosion in the centre of Omagh on August 15 which killed 29 people - the worst single atrocity in the whole history of the Troubles. Frantic and, subsequently, successful efforts were made to deter any Loyalist reprisal and, two weeks later, the dissident Republican faction declared a ceasefire.
Since then three issues have threatened the maintenance of peace. The Patten Commission's proposed disbandment of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) outraged Unionists whose concerns were only partly assuaged by the British government. The contentious issue of Orange marches through Nationalist areas has continued to hit the headlines and although the IRA has maintained its ceasefire, its refusal to decommission its weaponry exposed the precariousness of support for the Agreement and saw the Unionists withdraw from the Assembly in February 2000. The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, suspended the Assembly and resumed power a mere two months after its inauguration. However, in a surprising development, on May 6, 2000, the IRA declared its intention to put its weaponry beyond use and allow inspection of some of its arms dumps by independent observers. Eventually, the Assembly was reinstated, but the fragility of the peace process remains exposed, most notably by an ongoing feud between Loyalist paramilitary groups. Nevertheless, whatever the outcome, there is no doubt that the political landscape of Northern Ireland has been irrevocably transformed and, despite all the problems, many people remain cautiously optimistic.
Despite this undoubted political progress, Northern Ireland is still a deeply polarized society. Church attendance has significantly declined, but the population continues to define and divide itself along broadly religious lines between Catholics and Protestants - though this, for many, is now more a matter of heritage and political allegiance than faith. This process is reinforced by a system of separate schooling (there are few integrated schools in the North), which strengthens already tightknit communities, and by demographic shifts which have seen many once 'mixed' areas becoming predominantly Protestant or Catholic. Painting kerbstones red, white and blue (the colours of the British Union Flag) or flying the Irish Republic's tricolour from the telegraph poles are explicit ways by which communities express their allegiance. Others include the very language used to describe Northern Ireland. The word ' Ulster ' is favoured by Unionists and Loyalists, a term which, while geographically inaccurate - three of the counties of the old Irish province of Ulster are not part of Northern Ireland - essentially retains an historical connection with the Plantation , the process of immigration by which Protestants became the majority population. Conversely, Nationalists and Republicans may utilize the term "the Six Counties " to express their separation from the remaining 26 counties enshrined in the Partition of Ireland , and their consequent rejection of the province of Northern Ireland which Partition created. The term " The North " is widely used to avoid such political connotations. The Glossary , gives an explanation of some of this political terminology.
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