[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN RECOGNITION OF THE PEACE PROCESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES T. WALSH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 27, 2007

  Mr. WALSH of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today to reiterate 
support for the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and the St. Andrews 
Agreement of 2006, and to commend the tireless efforts of all involved 
in the peace process.
  On April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in Belfast, 
ending 3 decades of violence known as The Troubles. However, this 
landmark agreement was unable to deliver a lasting government to 
Northern Ireland, and in 2002 the Northern Ireland Assembly and the 
Executive were suspended.
  In October of 2006, the process was restored with the St. Andrew's 
Agreement, which established timetables for the restoration of the 
government of Northern Ireland and breathed life back into the process. 
This timetable required that both sides make some serious concessions 
to establish a peaceful and lasting government.
  Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist 
Party sat together for the first time ever on Monday, March 26, to 
announce that they had come to an agreement and that a provincial 
government will be established on May 8th of this year. I would like to 
commend them for working to establish this government, and urge the 
rest of my colleagues to join me in congratulating them for their great 
diplomatic work.

                          ____________________