Volume 38, Issue 1 (2026) The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985): Path or Roadblock to Peace?

The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) gave the Irish a consultative role in Northern Ireland while confirming no change to Northern Ireland's status without majority consent. Unionists reacted with fury and mass protest, seeing it as a sovereignty betrayal, while nationalists were split between SDLP support and Sinn Féin's dismissal. The question this issue of the journal interrogates is whether the agreement facilitated the path to the Good Friday Agreement (1998) or was an obstacle on its path.