British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday praised Northern Ireland’s landmark 1988 peace accord, ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to mark the 25th anniversary of its signing.
Sunak, 42 — who was 17 when the Good Friday Agreement was agreed, largely ending three decades of violence in the UK province — said it was “an incredible moment in our nation’s history.”
“It was a powerfully rare example of people doing the previously unthinkable to create a better future for Northern Ireland,” the UK leader added.
Photo: AP
“It is that promise of a better future that we offered to everyone in Northern Ireland that I will be thinking of first and foremost over the coming days,” he added.
Sunak is to participate in a number of events over the week to commemorate the signing on April 10, 1998, of the US-brokered peace accord, agreed between the governments in London and Dublin, and the Northern Irish political parties.
Britain is also to stage a “Northern Ireland Investment Summit” later this year to encourage inward investment and economic growth, Downing Street announced.
The gathering in Belfast on Sept. 12 to 13 would focus on financial and professional services, life and health sciences, technology, green manufacturing and the creative services, it said.
“The event is a key part of the UK’s overall program to mark the remarkable progress in Northern Ireland over the last quarter century and will support our vision for a prosperous 25 years ahead,” Sunak’s office added.
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