RTÉ to mark 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement with "landmark" specials

RTÉ has announced it will mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement with a number of "landmark" documentaries, specials and podcasts over the coming weeks. 

Coverage will include a two-part major documentary series called The Agreement presented by Miriam O'Callaghan, a feature-length documentary on the role of Father Alec Reid, exclusive interviews with Bill and Hilary Clinton on Prime Time, a three-part Your Politics podcast series, as well as engaging arts coverage with poetic features and essays. 

They will also cover a live multidenominational religious service at the Abbey Theatre. 

The Agreement will begin on Monday April 3 at 9.35pm and will examine the intense negotiations leading to the North’s comprehensive political settlement in April 1998 and the critical referendum campaign in the weeks that followed. 

Produced for RTÉ by Fine Point Films, in association with Queen’s University Belfast, the series is directed by Trevor Birney and includes interviews with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Senator George Mitchell and other key figures in the negotiations. 

It will take an in-depth look at the historic negotiations which led to the first island-wide referendum in Ireland since 1918, which was supported by an unprecedented 94% of the Irish electorate and over 70% in the North. The programmes put a spotlight on the events that led John Hume and David Trimble to share the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in advocating solutions to end conflict. 

Even today aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, such as a potential border poll, are under renewed scrutiny by politicians and people alike. 

The Secret Peacemaker - which airs at 10.30pm on Easter Sunday - tells the inspiring story of the Agreement’s earliest and unlikeliest of architects, the Tipperary raised Redemptorist priest Fr Alec Reid. In 1988, Father Reid was first seen by the world as he was photographed trying to save the life of a dying British corporal in the horrific aftermath of an IRA funeral. 

The haunted face of Father Reid as he delivered the Last Rites became symbolic of the thirty-year long conflict. But unknown to most, the photograph also captured a secret peacemaker at work. In Fr Reid's jacket pocket were the first documents of a fledgling plan that would help end The Troubles. 

Also, on Good Friday at 1.45pm, RTÉ Radio 1 will broadcast Field of Peace, a short poetic radio feature reflecting on the subjects of conflict, resolution and peace. Featuring words and music from acclaimed Irish and international writers and speakers. 

On Sunday nights at 7.30pm, RTÉ Radio 1 features a series of essays called Impermanence, by writers from or living in Northern Ireland and commissioned by the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. Capturing the various voices of Northern Ireland on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The writing originates from the public and personal experiences of its contributors. 

The essays pose and answer questions of a public, official and private nature about what it means to belong and live in a place that for so many years has experienced public scrutiny and comment. Contributors include Jan Carson, Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Neil Hegarty, Carlo Gebler, Susan McKay, Paul McVeigh, Maria McManus, Gail McConnell and Henrietta McKervey. 

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s news and current affairs programmes will be commemorating the signing of the Agreement with two live programmes from Belfast over Easter weekend. 

On Saturday April 8, An tSeachtain le Máirín Ní Ghadhra will feature a panel discussion with Póilín Ní Chiaráin, Fergus Ó hÍr, Máirín Hurndall, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin and Gráinne Ní Ghréacháin about the biggest changes in the north since the Agreement was signed twenty five years ago, and the challenges still to be overcome.

On Monday morning at 8.00am, RnaG will broadcast a special two-hour edition of current affairs show Adhmhaidin from the Raidió Fáilte studios in Belfast. The programme will look back at that critical time in the history of Northern Ireland which finally brought peace to the region.

A panel discussion will look at the positive and negative elements of Agreement, as perceived by the two main communities in the north and hear from the younger generation about the type of future they would like to see, and whether or not the Good Friday Agreement can fulfil those expectations.

Unique archive materials are also available to view at rte.ie/goodfriday