Good Friday Agreement an ‘inspiration’ to Northern Ireland's diplomats

On the 25th anniversary of the accord, they have spoken about its continuing impact on their work serving in countries from Afghanistan to North Korea, Hong Kong and Turkey.

Josh Norton, 27, from Belfast, said the agreement was his inspiration for joining the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

He is now a policy advisor on the FCDO’s Ukraine desk and was previously deployed to Kabul following the collapse of the Afghanistan government.

“I’ve worked on some of the most devastating and sustained conflicts that the world continues to grapple with,” he said.

“The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement demonstrates the prize that is on offer and shows when we pursue dialogue over conflict, we can end the violence.”

Mr Norton was born in 1996, just two years before the agreement was signed.

“It is always at the forefront of my mind as I’ve worked on other conflicts around the world. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement shows what can be achieved when we pull together in dialogue,” he said.

Colin Crooks, 54, from Dungannon, serves as the UK’s ambassador to South Korea, and previously worked as the ambassador to North Korea.

He said the spirit of compromise in Northern Ireland in the 1990s has inspired him throughout his career.

“The idea that leaders can sit down together, even where very serious historical and personal grievances exist, is something that I think other countries can also learn from, not least here on the Korean peninsula, where we also hope to see peace and prosperity take hold one day,” he said.

In Berlin, Jill Gallard, 54, from Omagh, recently hosted the King on his first foreign visit since being crowned, in her role as the UK’s ambassador to Germany.

She said she had been working as a young diplomat in Madrid when the agreement was signed, and burst into tears of relief that the Troubles were coming to an end.

“The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is important to me because it marked an end to the weekly, often daily, loss of life in the Troubles, which was the backdrop of my childhood and teenage years,” she said.

“I’m convinced that part of the reason I became a diplomat was growing up in Northern Ireland.”