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How Bono introduced peace to Northern Eire

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BELFAST — Did Bono and U2 assist seal the deal that introduced peace to Northern Eire?

The rockers did their half.

After American, British and Irish leaders signed the landmark Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, the last word choice went to the folks of Northern Eire and the Republic of Eire in Might 1998 for a referendum vote.

What is the Good Friday Agreement?

All eyes had been on Northern Eire, the place 3,600 had died, most of them civilians, throughout three many years of the Troubles. Would the folks vote up or down on an aspirational however imperfect deal?

Only a few days earlier than the vote, U2 burst onto the stage at Waterfront Corridor in Belfast to again the peace accord.

The worldwide band from Dublin was already recognized for mixing the non-public, religious and political, with hit songs together with “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” in regards to the British army assault on 26 unarmed civilians throughout a protest march in 1972.

After taking part in just a few songs in Belfast, Bono referred to as onto the stage the leaders of unionism and nationalism: David Trimble, a number one Protestant politician in Northern Eire, and John Hume, an advocate of nonviolence who led Northern Eire’s largest Catholic political get together. The 2 had beforehand prevented shaking fingers with one another in public.

Bono joined his fingers with theirs and raised them within the air — the black-clad celebrity flanked by politicians wearing pastel starched shirts, pleated trousers and pa ties.

In an unprecedented show of peace, Northern Eire’s high Protestant and Catholic politicians joined with U-2 singer Bono at a rock live performance in Might 1998. (Video: AP)

“I discovered myself in between two nice males,” Bono recalled in an interview with the Irish Occasions, as a part of the Good Friday Settlement’s twenty fifth anniversary protection. “Not the meat however the butter within the sandwich. The referee on the large struggle holding up the fingers that historical past must be type to, and everybody dwelling on this island.”

25 years after Good Friday Agreement, cold peace prevails in Northern Ireland

He advised the Irish Occasions: “Within the dressing room I had one half-good concept that turned out nice, which was to win over the gang with an unimaginable ask for a politician: ‘Might you stroll on the stage and never communicate?’

“‘In the event you communicate,’ I advised them, ‘you’ll seemingly invite some boos as is the custom at rock reveals. A photograph op is all we want right here. That is lethal severe, nevertheless it’s additionally present enterprise.’ They each smiled.”

The second onstage grew to become one of many defining pictures of the Good Friday Settlement.

“Bono was vital to all of it,” mentioned Tim Attwood, one of many live performance organizers and a former politician with Social Democratic and Labour Celebration in Northern Eire. “He knew precisely how essential it was to be a showman and find out how to create a world iconic picture. It led the information in every single place.”

Attwood advised The Washington Publish, “We needed to get 2,500 children to the venue, so we simply began ringing faculties. Phrase unfold and so many individuals needed to be there.” Tickets had been distributed free to high-schoolers in Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.

The stipulation from Bono was that each Hume and Trimble needed to be concerned. The latter wanted a wee little bit of convincing.

“David Trimble was an enormous Elvis fan, so he knew it was about youngsters’s futures and that music spoke to them,” Attwood mentioned.

In a means, it could be like Elvis Presley’s meeting with President Richard M. Nixon on the White Home.

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Did it make a distinction to the referendum final result?

Attwood is amongst those that thinks so. He mentioned pollsters on the time estimated that it elevated turnout by about 6 p.c and helped get unionists over the road. “These younger folks on the live performance went residence and advised their dad and mom to vote sure,” he mentioned. “Bono was essential to all that.”

Quinton Oliver, a director of the “sure” marketing campaign pushing the peace deal, was extra hesitant to estimate the Bono issue.

“You’ll be able to by no means inform what distinction it made, as a result of votes are usually not on one explicit merchandise. It’s a temper. It was a part of intensifying the temper. Clearly it was optimistic and a part of it, however you’ll be able to’t attribute it to 1 single occasion,” he advised The Publish.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair additionally made three journeys to Northern Eire in these closing days. President Invoice Clinton urged folks “to vote their hopes and never their fears.”

“However it might have been the Belfast look of Irish singer Bono of the rock group U2 that helped stem the movement of Protestant votes into the “no” camp,” the Los Angeles Times reported in 1998. “That picture despatched a message to voters that this referendum was about political unity greater than political prisoners.”

Dan Balz: In the name of peace, U2 rocks in Belfast

John Hume’s daughter Mo recollects listening to in regards to the live performance.

“I used to be dwelling in El Salvador in 1998, so this was pre-internet and all of the information about Bono got here to me third hand,” she mentioned.

“I used to be 25, so at the moment I assumed the picture of Bono, David Trimble and my da was cringe worthy. The yellow shirt and terrible tie. All of us had fun at this picture of two center aged males and the rock star. We had been all to him, ‘Would you take a look at the form of you?’ The large query was who selected that yellow shirt?”

She thought, “With retrospect, you’ll be able to see it’s an iconic {photograph} and the approaching collectively of the generations. It’s such a splendidly awkward {photograph}.”

She mentioned her father understood the ability of the picture, however wasn’t overwhelmed by superstar.

“For him, being a politician was about serving the group and getting again to bread and butter politics,” she mentioned.

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