The Troubles officially ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement signed by the UK, the ROI, and representatives of some of the premilitary groups. Leading up to this treaty was the Peace process, years of ceasefires and negotiations that culminated in the agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement saw the UK and ROI renounce any and all claims to Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland was recognized as containing a majority who wanted to remain in the UK, and a minority who wished to be part of Ireland, recognized both as valid, gave the Northern Irish the right to both British and Irish citizenship, and it also stated that, unless a majority of people in Northern Ireland and the ROI agree to something otherwise (Unification with the ROI), Northern Ireland will remain part of the UK; and should such a majority eventually agree on such a thing both governments are bound to uphold that decision.

Currently, Ireland and Northern Ireland have an open boarder, and things are calm, though tensions still lay in Northern Ireland, and small Paramilitary factions sit underground, all with the possibility of resurfacing. It has hit me again, and again, and again, just how much within living memory the Troubles are. Only about 2 generations (Z and Alpha, along with late Millennials) currently alive did not grow up during it. While that matters little here in the US, for the people of Ireland and the British Isles, that has a great impact. Indeed if you have ever wondered why you stopped hearing about Brexit in the US news it’s not because it went smoothly through, but because it has stalled on the point of Northern Ireland’s border with the ROI, which is still in the EU. If the UK is to leave the EU properly and fully, it will want to opt out of the EU’s internal open border policy, and put a more regulated border between it and the continent. However, the idea of strengthening the Irish boarder proved quite problematic. Such a boarder could be put between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but cutting off a part of one’s country in such a way is hardly ideal. Something of a compromise is currently in place but how it changes, or does not change, as time goes on, and it’s ramifications on Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, is one of the great political question of the area.

As for the history, the details of the Peace Process are also complicated, and would be a research project in and of itself, and frankly, that rather falls outside the focus of this site at the moment. But from what I understand, the Republicans and the British Military, and likely many of the Citizens of Northern Ireland, had all had enough, but it took several years of delicate negotiating for the treaty to finally be settled on in 1998. Ceasefires has briefly been called back in the 70’s, but it wasn’t until the 90’s when the parties involved really sat down and got things moving. More ceasefires would be called, though they would be broken and bombings and killings continue. Negotiations were delicate and finding something everyone would agree on was difficult, but it was eventually done. The Troubles wound down the paper was signed, and while you probably still don’t want to walk down the wrong road in Belfast with an Irish last name and the wrong accent things have settled, and peace remains.

In the Bibliography you can find a paper entitled The Background to the Peace Process by Martin Mansergh, as well as ‘Everyone Trying’ the IRA Ceasefire, 1975 by Niall Ó Dochartaigh, if you desire to become more familiar with said details yourself.