UK exit from ECHR would remove foundations of Good Friday agreement'

"The ECHR is an integral part of the 1998 Belfast Good Friday agreement and withdrawal would remove those foundations of peace, according to Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister. The ECHR's guarantees cannot be negotiated away, despite what some politicians might claim, he will tell the British Irish Association conference in Oxford on Friday. He will add that the ECHR was a fundamental safeguard and a core part of the agreement reflecting both countries' shared role as guarantors of the 1998 peace accord."

"Harris will also reveal that the UK and Irish governments are to appoint an independent expert panel to try to end the scourge of paramilitary violence and intimidation that has dogged pockets of Northern Ireland society since the peace agreement more than 25 years ago. The expert panel will report back to both governments in 12 months after examining whether there is merit in a structured process to disbandment,"

The European Convention on Human Rights underpins the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement and its guarantees are described as essential to maintaining peace in Northern Ireland. Several British politicians have advocated leaving the ECHR, raising concerns about the security of those foundations. The UK and Irish governments plan to appoint an independent expert panel to address paramilitary violence and intimidation and to assess whether a structured disbandment process is feasible. The panel will report in 12 months, with the aim of potentially drawing the history of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland to a close, despite some opposition.

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