Recommendation 1

In the years leading up to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, considerable groundwork had been laid through patient negotiation, compromise, and determination to end the Troubles, a period of conflict which had claimed the lives of more of more than 3,500 people. We commend those who established what would become the pillars of the Agreement and thank them for their contribution to the peace process. The final talks did not exist in isolation, and it is important to recognise that the architecture of peace was achieved through a long and difficult period of dialogue prior to April 1998.