Editing Northern Ireland (section)

===Peace process===
{{Main|Northern Ireland peace process}}
[[File:Foyle Bridge Derry at Dusk Oblique.jpg|thumb|[[Peace Bridge (Foyle)|Derry Peace Bridge]], over the [[River Foyle]]]]

The Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a peace process that included the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations and the complete decommissioning of their weapons, the reform of the police, and the corresponding withdrawal of army troops from the streets and sensitive border areas such as South Armagh and [[Fermanagh]], as agreed by the signatories to the [[Good Friday Agreement]] (also known as the "Belfast Agreement"). This reiterated the long-held British position, which had never before been fully acknowledged by successive Irish governments, that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority of voters in Northern Ireland decides otherwise. The [[Constitution of Ireland]] was amended in 1999 to remove a claim of the "Irish nation" to sovereignty over the entire island (in Article 2).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/546146.stm |title=BBC News {{!}} NORTHERN IRELAND {{!}} Republic drops claim to NI |website=BBC News |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030406224757/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/546146.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

The new [[Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland|Articles 2 and 3]], added to the Constitution to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships within the rest of the United Kingdom and with the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in each jurisdiction. This aspect was also central to the Belfast Agreement which was signed in 1998 and ratified by referendums held simultaneously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. At the same time, the UK Government recognised for the first time, as part of the prospective, the so-called "Irish dimension": the principle that the people of the island of Ireland as a whole have the right, without any outside interference, to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.<ref name="Parliament">[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1993-12-15/Debate-1.html Parliamentary debate] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010094440/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1993-12-15/Debate-1.html |date=10 October 2010 }}: "The British government agree that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish."</ref> The latter statement was key to winning support for the agreement from nationalists. It established a devolved power-sharing government, the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], located on the [[Stormont Estate]], which must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties. These institutions were suspended by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK Government]] in 2002 after [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI) allegations of spying by people working for Sinn Féin at the Assembly ([[Stormontgate]]). The resulting case against the accused Sinn Féin member collapsed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/14561 |title=Securocrat sabotage exposed &#124; An Phoblacht |website=www.anphoblacht.com |access-date=25 January 2021 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130201326/https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/14561 |url-status=live}}; {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3SFzfha7VYC&q=collapse+stormontgate+donaldson&pg=PA306 |title=Bear in Mind These Dead |isbn=978-0571252183 |last1=McKay |first1=Susan |date=2009 |publisher=Faber & Faber |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413214647/https://books.google.com/books?id=v3SFzfha7VYC&q=collapse+stormontgate+donaldson&pg=PA306 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign and has since decommissioned what is thought to be all of its [[arsenal]]. This final act of decommissioning was performed under the watch of the [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning]] (IICD) and two external church witnesses. Many unionists, however, remained sceptical. The IICD later confirmed that the main loyalist paramilitary groups, the [[Ulster Defence Association]], UVF, and the [[Red Hand Commando]], had decommissioned what is thought to be all of their arsenals, witnessed by former archbishop [[Robin Eames]] and a former top civil servant.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8442683.stm "UDA confirm guns decommissioned"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912045557/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8442683.stm |date=12 September 2017 }} BBC news; retrieved 29 January 2014</ref>

Politicians elected to the Assembly at the [[2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election|2003 Assembly election]] were called together on 15 May 2006 under the Northern Ireland Act 2006<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060017_en_1 |title=Northern Ireland Act 2006 (c. 17) |publisher=Opsi.gov.uk |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-date=8 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208064049/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060017_en_1 |url-status=live}}</ref> to elect a [[First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland]] and choose the members of an Executive (before 25 November 2006) as a preliminary step to the restoration of devolved government.

Following the [[2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election|election on 7 March 2007]], the devolved government returned on 8 May 2007 with [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) leader [[Ian Paisley]] and Sinn Féin deputy leader [[Martin McGuinness]] taking office as First Minister and deputy First Minister, respectively.<ref>(BBC)</ref> In its [[white paper]] on [[Brexit]] the United Kingdom government reiterated its commitment to the Belfast Agreement. Concerning Northern Ireland's status, it said that the UK Government's "clearly-stated preference is to retain Northern Ireland's current constitutional position: as part of the UK, but with strong links to Ireland".<ref>HM Government ''The United Kingdom's exit from and new partnership with the European Union''; Cm 9417, February 2017</ref>