Tony Blair to answer MPs questions on Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

14 March 2023

Sir Tony Blair will appear before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on 16 March, to discuss how the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, have performed in delivering effective, cross-community and stable government in NI.

The evidence given to this session will contribute towards the Committee’s inquiry on the effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

After coming to power in the UK in 1997, Sir Tony’s role in political talks with nationalist and unionist parties from June 1997 alongside then-Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was crucial to concluding the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.

The Agreement set up a new government for Northern Ireland based on power sharing between nationalist and unionist parties, and played a key role in bringing an end to The Troubles, the armed conflict that had affected Northern Ireland since the late 1960s.

Sir Tony will be invited to reflect on the achievement the Agreement represented in 1998, its continuing significance, and how the current instability of Northern Ireland’s institutions can be addressed.

Witnesses 

Thursday 16 March, Wilson Room, Portcullis House

From 9.30:

Sir Tony Blair KG, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007)

Further information

Image: PA Media