Ireland: all-island strategy

The potential to develop a complete all-island strategy may seem limited by circumstance, but some law firms think otherwise

It is nearly 25 years since the late Lord (David) Trimble and his nationalist counterpart John Hume were awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize for Peace. Their combined efforts helped to secure the Good Friday Agreement, which aimed to bring lasting peace to Northern Ireland and to transform relationships across the island of Ireland.

Following the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference of 2006, an important study was published on the future of the all-island economy – a project that was firmly in the ascendant in the years following the Good Friday Agreement. In a joint foreword, Dermot Ahern, then Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Peter Hain, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, concluded: “This study makes clear the strong economic imperative driving north/south co-operation. To be globally competitive we must exploit the opportunities of all-island collaboration.”