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In the late 1840s, a man named Owen Finnegan left Ireland to make a new life in New York. Today, his great-great-grandson will return.

The president of the USAThe United States of America is a country in North America. It has a population of 329 million. , Joe BidenThe president of the USA, elected in 2020., is coming to BelfastThe capital of Northern Ireland. to mark 25 years since the Good Friday AgreementThe treaty that ended the Troubles, a decades-long conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, which also saw fighting between the British government and Irish republicans. One of its central tenets is an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. was signed.

The peace deal, signed in 1998, brought an end to 30 years of fighting in Northern IrelandA small part of the island of Ireland that is one of the four nations of the UK. Northern Ireland has had a troubled history because of divisions between Protestants, who mostly identify with the UK, and Catholics, who would like to be part of the Republic of Ireland.. The fighting took place between republicansPeople who believe a country should not have a king or queen, or in the US, members of the Republican party. , who wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of IrelandA European country that is made up of most of the island of Ireland. , and loyalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to stay as part of the United KingdomA country in Europe made up of the whole of the island of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and Northern Ireland, the northern part of the island of Ireland. . It was known as the Troubles.

The deal was a huge moment. Today, anyone aged 25 or under in Northern Ireland has only ever known peace.

But many say that Northern Ireland needs to think about what has not changed, as well as what has.

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In 1998, the armed fighters that made Northern Ireland a dangerous place were supposed to break up.

But some experts warn that instead of breaking up, loyalist groups have simply changed to take part in organised crimePlanned criminal behaviour, often involving lots of people working together over a long time to make money. Organised crime often centres around the sale of illegal drugs. instead. Teenagers, who were born after the Troubles ended, are involved.

On the republican side, some groups linked to the IRAThe Irish Republican Army, or IRA, was an unofficial military organization made up of people who wanted an end to British rule in Northern Ireland. never accepted the end of the fighting. Today, shootings still take place in Northern Ireland.

For some, it raises a difficult question: did the deal really bring about peace?

Yes! Most wars or fights do not end in peace deals. Instead, one side crushes the other. Or there are a series of peace deals - but they keep on being broken.

No! Most people do not want to fight. They want to live in peace, without the chaos of war or fighting. Peace agreements are difficult, but both sides want them to work.