Over the past few days a session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly has taken place to mark the 25th Anniversary of Good Friday Agreement. During proceedings members unanimously adopted a motion on the Belfast Agreement to officially mark the beginning of the celebrations.
Fianna Fail TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Deputy Brendan Smith, is a member of the Assembly. He told Northern Sound that the body has built trust in communities and improved relationships between British and Irish people since its inception in 1990.
Deputy Smith added there were "political giants and leaders" who deserved great credit for ensuring that the Good Friday Agreement came to fruition in the first instance. "I spoke about how the Good Friday Agreement came about because of a strong working relationship; because of trust; and because of a partnership between the Irish and British Governments.
"At that time Tony Blair as British Prime Minister and Bertie Ahern as our Taoiseach, had a great working relationship. Then you had people like John Hume and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP - really giants of Irish politics - real republicans and real patriots who did so much to bring an end to violence in our country," he said.
