Jeremy Siegel: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition. It has been 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, the landmark peace accord that ended three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. And this week in Boston, a group of international leaders gathered at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute to mark the occasion, including Lord Jonathan Caine, the British parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I sat down with Lord Caine to discuss the past quarter century of the historic agreement and his country's ties with Boston.
Lord Jonathan Caine: I do remember on the morning of Good Friday or late morning of Good Friday when the agreement was announced, an immense sense of excitement and relief. The 1998 agreement brought to a close a chapter in history which saw three and a half thousand people or more killed.
News reporter [archive]: The Shankill Road was crowded with the usual Saturday lunchtime shoppers. The bomb exploded without warning.
Caine: In October 1993. I think just under 30 people lost their lives. Shankill bombing, Greysteel massacre.
News reporter [archive]: The emergency services were quickly on the scene. Minutes later, the bodies started to come out.
Caine: And so it just reminds us, I think, how far Northern Ireland has come. And of course, the 1998 agreement has been absolutely pivotal to that. It underpins all the progress that's really been made in Northern Ireland over the past quarter of a century.
News reporter [archive]: What extraordinary pictures those were from inside Castle buildings here. Two age old enemies clapping together, celebrating a new deal, a new settlement, a way forward for Northern Ireland.
Siegel: This may be a little bit of a stretch. And I don't mean to conflate very, very different situations. But America is heading into another election year, one that could involve a former president who inciting an insurrection, exposed deep divides here in the U.S. As someone who has seen an historic agreement made helping end a really violent and divisive conflict and been there for the past 25 years of its implementation, are there any lessons, looking back 25 years, that you think can be taken to today?
Caine: Well, one thing I'm very wary of is commentating on the internal politics of the United States and also, to be honest, making too many direct comparisons between Northern Ireland and, you know, other parts of the world. But I think the key, you know, lesson, though, is that, you know, so long as people are prepared to talk and, you know, to negotiate in good faith, then there are very few problems in politics that can't be overcome.
Siegel: Why should people in Boston care about this agreement? I mean, the question might sound crass, but it's countries miles and miles away, an ocean away. Why should people listening here feel the weight of 25 years of this agreement?
Caine: Well, I think because Boston as a city has very, very strong historical ties, links with the United Kingdom, and also very strong and historical links with Ireland, north and south. And so I think there is a natural affinity.
Siegel: So this is your seventh time here in Boston, right?
Caine: Correct.
Siegel: Is there anything over seven visits that you've come to look forward to?
Caine: Very, very friendly. Very, very friendly place. Always extremely welcoming, delicious food. What more could one want?
Siegel: How is Boston different from Northern Ireland?
Caine: Well, Boston's very large, a very large city. Northern Ireland doesn't have anything quite so comparable. But I think there are some very strong links between Boston and Northern Ireland. And one of the things we're trying to do here is foster those links for trade and investment into Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a wonderfully excellent place to do business. It's particularly strong in venture capital, in the life sciences, which are also, you know, very strong here in Boston. So we're trying to foster as many relationships. Some relationships here go back many decades, but we're trying to foster new relationships. And one of the things that we were talking about this morning at the conference I attended at the Edward Kennedy Institute was just how we can build a stronger economic relationship.
Siegel: When you speak about business and investment for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland is in a different situation right now post-2016, post-Brexit. How have you found yourself navigating that situation both at home and in your work abroad in places like Boston?
Caine: I mean, I think it's safe to say that what happened in 2016 was a bit of a jolt for many, many people throughout the United Kingdom. But Northern Ireland was always in a slightly different position to the rest of the UK because it's the only part of the UK that shared a land border with the European Union and with the single market. And therefore we did have to look at arrangements which would preserve a number of the gains that have been made over recent years, with there being no infrastructure at the border on the island of Ireland. And that was a real priority to make sure no border and no impediment to people moving across the island of Ireland. And one of the things that we have managed to achieve, that the Prime Minister managed to achieve in February this year, was an agreement with the European Union called the Windsor Framework. And what that does is give Northern Ireland, uniquely of anywhere, privileged access into the EU single market, at the same time as guaranteeing unfettered access, access into the United Kingdom internal market. No other region has that advantage, which makes Northern Ireland a great place to look at if you're wanting to do business with both the rest of the UK and into the European Union.
Siegel: Let's talk a little bit more about the border with the European Union, because you're here to mark 25 years from one of the most important agreements in modern history, the Good Friday Agreement. It's an agreement that right now is being observed with celebration, but also with concern and instability. A few months ago, UK intelligence raised the terrorism threat level for Northern Ireland from substantial to severe. Do you feel that tensions over the past few years, especially post 2016, have at all shaken the core of the agreement stability?
Caine: No, and I wouldn't like to overexaggerate that tone just on the threat level.
Siegel: Sure.
Caine: These do move around. But it does demonstrate that there is a residual terrorist threat. But I think overwhelmingly, support for the 1998 agreement remains very strong and the UK government remains absolutely, solidly committed to that agreement and trying to make the vision, if you like, of those that reached the agreement back in April 1998 a reality.
Siegel: Lord Caine, it has been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today and hearing about these past 25 years. Thank you so much for.
Caine: Your pleasure being here. And I look forward to be back in Boston very soon.
Siegel: That was Lord Jonathan Caine, British under-secretary of state for Northern Ireland. You're listening to GBH News.
Lord Jonathan Caine, the British parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, remembers the day the Good Friday Agreement was signed, bringing to an end three decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
“Late morning of Good Friday when the agreement was announced, an immense sense of excitement and relief,” Caine, visiting Boston this week, told GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Jeremy Siegel. “The 1998 agreement brought to a close a chapter in history which saw three and a half thousand people or more killed.”
Caine is in Boston to join a group of international leaders gathered at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement.
“In October 1993, I think just under 30 people lost their lives. Shankill bombing, Greysteel massacre,” he said. “And so it just reminds us, I think, how far Northern Ireland has come. And of course, the 1998 agreement has been absolutely pivotal to that. It underpins all the progress that's really been made in Northern Ireland over the past quarter of a century.”
The U.S., too, is at a pivotal moment, heading into another election year that could involve a former president accused of inciting an insurrection, who exposed deep divides.
Caine said he was reticent to directly comment on U.S. politics or compare Northern Ireland to other parts of the world.
“But I think the key lesson, though, is that, so long as people are prepared to talk and, you know, to negotiate in good faith, then there are very few problems in politics that can't be overcome,” he said.
Boston has long had deep ties to both the United Kingdom and Ireland, he said.
Caine said his trip is also meant to encourage stronger business ties between Northern Ireland and the Boston area.
“Northern Ireland is a wonderfully excellent place to do business,” he said. “It's particularly strong in venture capital, in the life sciences, which are also, you know, very strong here in Boston.”
One selling point, he said, is Northern Ireland’s unique position after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
“I think it's safe to say that what happened in 2016 was a bit of a jolt for many, many people throughout the United Kingdom,” Caine said. “But Northern Ireland was always in a slightly different position to the rest of the U.K. because it's the only part of the U.K. that shared a land border with the European Union and with the single market.”
Officials had to look at special arrangements for Northern Ireland, he said. They eventually came up with an agreement called the Windsor Framework.
“What that does is give Northern Ireland, uniquely of anywhere, privileged access into the EU single market, at the same time as guaranteeing unfettered access, access into the United Kingdom internal market,” Caine said. “No other region has that advantage, which makes Northern Ireland a great place to look at if you're wanting to do business with both the rest of the U.K. and into the European Union.”
This is Caine’s seventh time visiting Boston, he said.
“[It’s a] very, very friendly place. Always extremely welcoming, delicious food,” he said. “What more could one want?”
