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☆ Protesters storm Paris Euronext building in anger over pension law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Noemie Olive | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - A group of protesters briefly invaded offices of stockmarket operator Euronext in Paris' La Defense business district on Thursday, saying big companies must pay up to finance pensions, as part of wider protests against a rise in the retirement age. Waving union flags, the group of a few hundred protesters occupied Euronext's lobby, engulfed in red smoke from flares, and chanted words popular with pension protesters: "We are here, we are here, even if Macron does not want it we are here." At the weekend, Macron signed into law the rise in the retirement age which means citizens must work two years longer, to 64, before receiving their state pension. "We'll continue until the (pension law's) withdrawal," protesters shouted in La Defense's central square, standing by a banner that read: "No to the pension reform". Macron himself faced protests on Thursday during his second public outing since signing the bill into law.

☆ British, Irish PMs open to Good Friday Agreement reforms when time right
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneBELFAST, April 19 (Reuters) - The Irish and British prime ministers said on Wednesday that they were open to considering reforming Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace accord, but that any debate could only happen when the powersharing government underpinning it was restored. That, coupled with the rise of the Alliance party, which identifies as neither nationalist or unionist, has sparked calls for an overhaul of a political architecture that the largest unionist party, the DUP, has boycotted for more than a year. "I think it's the shared view of the British and Irish government that there is a conversation that needs to happen about reforming the Good Friday Agreement. No agreement should be set in stone forever," Varadkar told reporters after an event to mark 25 years of the peace accord. "I urge you to work with us to get Stormont (Northern Ireland's assembly) up and running again," Sunak told unionist politicians.

☆ Northern Ireland recognises women who helped bring peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"There wouldn't be a Good Friday agreement to celebrate today if it were not for the women of Northern Ireland," Clinton said, to applause from the audience. The peace accord largely ended 30 years of violence between mainly Catholic nationalist opponents and mainly Protestant unionist supporters of British rule. Other recipients included Ireland's first female president, Mary Robinson, Northern Ireland's first female first minister, Arlene Foster and Lyra McKee, a journalist who was killed in 2019 during an outbreak of the sporadic violence that still exists. "I was amazed that my name was among such an illustrious group of women," Avila Killmurray, a co-founder of the Women's Coalition, said at the ceremony. "However it's really nice because I worked mainly with women in local communities and I think very often their contribution over the years doesn't go recognised enough."

☆ Takeaways from Biden's trip to Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Biden’s trip came as he nears a decision on running again for president. “I own property in Ireland, I’m not going to Ireland,” former President Donald Trump said during Biden’s trip. Patrick Semansky/APDiplomatic legacy: ‘Keep the peace’White House officials made little attempt at ascribing major policy objectives to Biden’s trip. Kevin Lamarque/ReutersBiden makes Ireland visit a family affairMore than anything, Biden’s trip this week had the feeling of a family spring break. Throughout the sometimes-rainy trip, Biden kept his head dry with a baseball cap from the Beau Biden Foundation.

☆ Black and Tans: Biden confuses All Blacks rugby team with brutal police force
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —President Joe Biden made a gaffe during his visit to Ireland on Wednesday as he confused a rugby team with a controversial 1920s-era British police force. Biden was speaking at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk, Ireland, when he appeared to mistake New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team with the Black and Tans, a brutal force deployed against rebels during the Irish War of Independence. He received the Irish team tie after they won against New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago in November 2016. “See this tie I have, this shamrock tie?” Biden said. He personally called the Irish rugby union team to congratulate them when they defeated New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium in 2021.

☆ Biden plans to focus heavily on the economy in Belfast speech marking Good Friday Agreement anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Biden’s optimistic speech did not paper over tensions that persist 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. “It doesn’t change the political dynamic in Northern Ireland,” said Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which withdrew from the government in dispute of Brexit trade rules. Ahead of the speech, Biden sat for brief talks over coffee with Sunak, though won’t participate in any major public events with him while he’s here. That includes the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster, who previously served as the first minister of Northern Ireland. The region along the border with Northern Ireland was where Biden’s great-great-great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, was born in 1818.

Ambassador to the United Kingdom Jane Hartley greet U.S. President Joe Biden next to Joe Kennedy upon Biden's arrival at RAF Aldergrove airbase in County Antrim, Northern Ireland April 11, 2023. Ahern said he knew from experience that "knocking heads together" did not usually work in Northern Ireland and that Biden should point out the obvious case that, in any democracy, institutions of parliament were essential. Biden will travel later on Wednesday to County Louth - midway between Belfast and Dublin - where his great-grandfather was born. Biden will meet relatives from another side of his family in the western county of Mayo on Friday. Writing by Padraic Halpin; Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Peter Graff and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Unfinished business': Biden visits Northern Ireland as political tensions persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

He will give a speech in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, before traveling south of the border to the Republic of Ireland, where he will remain until Friday. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. while the Republic of Ireland is a separate nation state that remains part of the EU. "Whilst it's positive in many ways — particularly on movement of food and medicines between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it really removes a lot of the frictions — it doesn't deal with all the problems of the Northern Ireland protocol, so I'm afraid it's unfinished business," Villiers told CNBC's Tania Bryer. Clinton became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Northern Ireland and the first to appoint a U.S. special regional envoy. Though Biden is expected to use the trip to promote a return to functioning government in Stormont, his previous support for the Northern Ireland Protocol has drawn criticism from DUP politicians.

☆ Biden heads to Northern Ireland at delicate political juncture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Conor Humphries | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BELFAST, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Belfast on Tuesday at a delicate political time in Northern Ireland as he helps mark the 25-year anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed there. Biden was expected to meet representatives from five Northern Irish parties in advance of his speech at Ulster University but was not planning to pressure them, a senior administration official said. Biden, who will float the possibility of closer investment ties between the U.S. and Northern Ireland to try to encourage an end to the impasse, clashed with the British government at times during the Brexit talks, drawing a rebuke from the DUP. Britain's MI5 intelligence agency recently increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely. "Since (Jonh F.) Kennedy there hasn't been as Irish American a president as Joe Biden and we're really looking forward to welcoming him home," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Sunday.

☆ Work to be done, PM Sunak says 25 years after N.Irish peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A quarter of century since the signing of a peace deal that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government central to the accord. But peace has come under strain following Britain's exit from the European Union and other political crises have overshadowed this week's commemorations. "But most importantly, it is based on compromise in Northern Ireland itself. Last month, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack was considered highly likely. Irish Prime Minister Irish Leo Varadkar on Sunday pledged to intensify efforts with Sunak to break the political deadlock in the province.

☆ Pope hopes Northern Ireland accord can be 'consolidated' to benefit all Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, April 10 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Monday he was praying that the Good Friday agreement signed 25 years ago that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland can be "consolidated" to benefit the people of all of Ireland. "Today marks the 25th anniversary of the so-called Good Friday agreement, or of Belfast, which brought an end to the violence that for decades troubled Northern Ireland," Francis said. Angry about post-Brexit trade rules that treated the province of Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest pro-British party, has boycotted the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal for more than a year. Last month, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack was considered highly likely. Additional reporting by Michael Holden in London; editing by John Stonestreet, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden Must Tread Rocky Path in Belfast Before Tending His Irish Roots
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Though Mr. Biden deplored I.R.A. The events became one of the most infamous episodes of the Troubles, known as Bloody Sunday. Mr. Powell said Mr. Biden had made his own contribution later on by pressing the British government to break an impasse with the European Union over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. In doing so, he fulfilled a promise he made to Mr. Biden when the two met last fall at a summit in Indonesia, during which the prime minister vowed to resolve the issue. “It is possible that Biden could be seen as adding more pressure on the unionists,” said Katy Hayward, a professor of politics at Queen’s University in Belfast.

☆ Work to be done, PM Sunak says 25 years after Northern Ireland peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A road sign is seen indicating speed limits are changing from kilometres per hour to miles per hour on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland along the M1 motorway, as seen from Carrickcarnan, Ireland, May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneLONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - A quarter of century since the signing of a peace deal that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government central to the accord. U.S. President Joe Biden will fly into Northern Ireland on Tuesday to attend events marking the 25th anniversary of the deal, a reflection of the role the United States played in brokering the agreement. "But most importantly, it is based on compromise in Northern Ireland itself. Last month, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack was considered highly likely.

☆ Irish PM seeks to restore Northern Ireland power-sharing within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged on Sunday to intensify efforts with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and hopes to break the deadlock there in the next few months. London has said it will not renegotiate any part of its the new agreement. The latest suspension of the assembly is casting a shadow over Monday's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed. Power-sharing has collapsed a number of times for different reasons since its introduction as part of the peace deal, each time being restored after long political talks.

☆ Twenty-Five Years After the Good Friday Agreement, an Uneasy Peace Prevails in Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( David Luhnow | Max Colchester | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

BELFAST—In mid-February, Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell finished coaching his son’s soccer team and was putting soccer balls into the trunk of his car in Omagh, Northern Ireland, when two masked gunmen shot him multiple times in front of his son. British authorities suspect that pro-Irish republicans targeted Mr. Caldwell, who remains hospitalized. On Tuesday, U.S. President Biden will travel to the British province to celebrate the deal’s anniversary along with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar . Mr. Biden, whose ancestors were Irish, will hail the deal that brought an uneasy peace between a mostly Protestant community that sees itself as British and wants to remain part of the U.K., and a mostly Catholic community that endured decades of discrimination and which views itself as Irish and aspires to see a united Ireland. Within hours of Mr. Caldwell’s shooting, the leaders of the province’s five main political parties—which include pro-British unionist parties and pro-Irish nationalist ones—condemned the attack.

☆ UK PM Sunak to meet President Biden in Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Phil Nobel/PoolLONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the U.S. president flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord. Sunak will greet Biden on Tuesday evening when Air Force One lands for what will be a closely watched visit to both sides of the Irish border at a time of heightened political uncertainty in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement - signed on April 10, 1998 - largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland's largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal. Although that deal has so far failed to restore the devolved government in Northern Ireland, Sunak will seek to bolster his support for the province by announcing a summit later in the year to stimulate international investment.

☆ U.S. President Biden to visit Ireland, Northern Ireland next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Political stalemate awaits president in Northern IrelandBiden to underscore U.S. support for N.Ireland economyWill visit ancestral homes on both coasts of IrelandDUBLIN, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland on April 11-14 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord on one side of the Irish border and visit his ancestral home on the other, the White House said on Wednesday. However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland's largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the 1998 deal. The British government and the European Union reached a deal in February to ease post-Brexit trade rules between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. There is still some sporadic violence in Northern Ireland by small groups opposed to peace. The 1998 deal was partially brokered by the U.S. government of then-President Bill Clinton, who will travel to Belfast a week later with his wife Hillary for an event marking the anniversary.

In a short section, the deal said it was essential to address the suffering of victims as a necessary element of reconciliation. The bill is opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Irish government and victims' groups. "It toys with what is a very delicate peace settlement here," said Amnesty International Northern Ireland deputy director Grainne Teggart. KEEP GOING[1/4] Andrea Brown, daughter of Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Eric Brown who was killed in 1983, holds a portrait of her father in Moira, Northern Ireland, March 29, 2023. In 2019 a Northern Ireland court ordered an independent investigation into alleged collusion between security services and the gang suspected of the killing.

[1/4] Andrea Brown, daughter of Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Eric Brown who was killed in 1983, holds a portrait of her father in Moira, Northern Ireland, March 29, 2023. In a short section, the deal said it was essential to address the suffering of victims as a necessary element of reconciliation. The bill is opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Irish government and victims' groups. "It toys with what is a very delicate peace settlement here," said Amnesty International Northern Ireland deputy director Grainne Teggart. In 2019 a Northern Ireland court ordered an independent investigation into alleged collusion between security services and the gang suspected of the killing.

☆ Northern Ireland's 'peace babies' desperate for more progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Born in December 1998, Moore is one of Northern Ireland's so-called "peace babies", the generation born just after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and considered the embodiment of hope for the region's post-conflict future. said Moore, a social policy and communications worker from Derry, referring to the barriers besieged residents erected to protect themselves. Stormont (the Northern Irish assembly) not being up and running is ridiculous," said Jessica Keough from Bangor, County Down, who is from a unionist background but sees herself as Irish and Northern Irish, "and not British at all." More than 90% of schools in Northern Ireland remain segregated along religious lines, as is housing in many areas. "There is something special about being a peace baby so people born around (that time) feel protective about the peace and the Good Friday Agreement."

[1/3] Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) embraces Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after all parties reached a historic peace agreement April 10, 1998. The peace has utterly transformed the region, largely ending three decades of bitter violence that killed 3,600. "Nothing's ever irresolvable" said Blair, summing up the stubborn optimism many developed working in Northern Ireland at the turn of the millennium. Nationalists, who are mostly Catholic, say Northern Ireland was wrenched from the EU in a UK-wide vote even though its smallest region voted 56% to 44% to remain. "There is an exhaustion and frustration," at the DUP's repeated objections, said Ahern, Irish prime minister from 1997-2008.

☆ The long road to Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File PhotoApril 3 (Reuters) - On April 10, Northern Ireland marks the 25th anniversary since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended three decades of conflict in the British-ruled province. The new Northern Ireland parliament, at Stormont outside Belfast, is dominated by pro-British Protestant "unionists", who will control it for the next 50 years. Nov. 30, 1995 - U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland. May 30, 1996 - Elections held for a Northern Ireland forum ahead of all-party talks. April 10, 1998 - After negotiations continue through the night, the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, is signed.

☆ Northern Ireland's Orange Order says new Brexit deal needs improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, it does not resolve the fundamental concerns," the Orange Order said in a statement on Tuesday. The Windsor Framework continues to treat Northern Ireland as a place apart within the United Kingdom and equal citizenship has not been restored." The statement said the Orange Order would not endorse the deal without "substantial and tangible progress which resolves these fundamental issues". As part of Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the bloc's single market to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland. Business groups have overwhelmingly supported the Windsor Framework, seeing it as removing damaging uncertainties over trading relationships.

☆ At what cost? UK PM Sunak to win post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sunak has sought to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a so-called hard border with Britain or the European Union. He agreed with the EU to introduce the "Stormont brake", aimed at offering Northern Ireland more control over whether to accept any new EU laws, as part of the so-called Windsor Framework of measures to soothe post-Brexit tensions. But in Wednesday's vote in the lower house of parliament, those he most wanted to win over - Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and some Conservative eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) - are set to rebel. The brake enables Britain to prevent new EU laws applying to goods in Northern Ireland if asked to do so by a third of lawmakers in the province's devolved legislature. The DUP has for a year boycotted Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over its opposition to the post-Brexit trade rules, which effectively leaves the province in the EU's single market for goods and means it has to follow some of the bloc's rules.

☆ Despite opposition, UK's Sunak wins post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak won the backing of parliament on Wednesday for a key element of a reworked post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland. Despite the opposition, Sunak won the vote by 515 to 29, suggesting that several in his Conservative Party had abstained on the vote. "The Stormont brake is at the heart of the (Windsor) Framework," Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris told parliament ahead of the vote. "It restores practical sovereignty for the United Kingdom as a whole and the people of northern Ireland in particular." Johnson, the face of the campaign to leave the EU, and his successor, Truss, both said they would vote against the brake.

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