Good Friday Agreement anniversary: Rishi Sunak pays tribute to those who died 'protecting the innocent'

​The prime minister makes the comments today ahead of the arrival of US President Joe Biden in Northern Ireland to commemorate a quarter-century since the deal was formally adopted.

The agreement was signed on April 10, 1998, and continues to divide unionist opinion to this day.

In a message released today, Mr Sunak says: “We commemorate those who are no longer with us and the many who lost their lives by trying to prevent violence and protect the innocent.

“And we give thanks to them as we reflect on the new generations that have grown up and continue to grow in a world in which peace and prosperity has prevailed.”

Sinn Fein’s North Belfast MP John Finucane, meanwhile, said yesterday that the 1998 deal offered, “for the first time”, a path to Irish unity that was “peaceful, democratic”.

Mr Sunak said the agreement “continues to enjoy huge international support”, as demonstrated by the fact the American president is flying in on Air Force One on Tuesday evening.

Mr Sunak said in a statement marking the anniversary: “As we look forward, we will celebrate those who took difficult decisions, accepted compromise, and showed leadership – showing bravery, perseverance, and political imagination.

“While it is time to reflect on the solid progress we have made together, we must also recommit to redoubling our efforts on the promise made in 1998 and the agreements that followed.”

That vision, he said, is of “economic opportunity, prosperity, and stability”.

“So we must get on with the business of governance,” Mr Sunak continued.

“My mission, duty and responsibility as prime minister of the United Kingdom is to deliver for people in Northern Ireland.

“We stand ready to work with our partners in the Irish government and the local parties to ensure that the institutions are up and running again as soon as possible. There is work to be done.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Northern Ireland is at “another crossroads” 25 years after the agreement that he said represents the “very best of what our politics can achieve, the triumph of hope over division, of peace over strife and of prosperity over conflict”.