Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

The Good Friday Agreement is now 27 years old. I will resurrect some research conducted around the 25th anniversary by Behaviour and Attitudes for The Sunday Times. It highlighted the attitudes of young people, including the ceasefire babies who grew up in peaceful times although very much still dealing with the legacy of conflict, paramilitarism and divided communities. Half of those 18- to 34-year-olds said they did not fully understand the history of the Troubles, 42% said they did and 8% said they did not know. It strikes me that the Good Friday Agreement should have more prominence in our primary and secondary schools not just as a history lesson, but as a living, breathing framework for peace and reconciliation on our island and beyond. There should be age-appropriate lessons on civil rights, the devastation of violence now and for generations, living with opposing ideologies and narratives and the role of dialogue. Those legendary laureates, Hume and Trimble, whose busts stand proudly in the Oireachtas, are no longer with us. Neither are several of the architects of the agreement. Their legacy must live on, however. The Good Friday Agreement is often referred to as a living document and so it should be but, to remain a living, breathing framework for peace and reconciliation that governs, as it should, the totality of relationships across these islands, new energy must continually be invested in it. That should involve giving the Good Friday Agreement more prominence in our schools.

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