Sir, – Perhaps it is not surprising, given the fractious relationship that exists between communities in Northern Ireland, there is no consensus as to how the historic 1998 settlement should be described. Those from a nationalist background describe the settlement as the Good Friday Agreement while those from a unionist tradition invariably prefer and favour the Belfast Agreement.
I note the US secretary of state Antony Blinken in his recent meeting with the UK foreign secretary James Cleverly adroitly reaffirmed US president Biden’s support for the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. While only a small step, if this wording for the settlement could be adopted by all parties, it would signal an intention to find common ground in a true spirit of peace and reconciliation. – Yours, etc,
PAUL WALSH,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.