Fundamentally the Fleadh succeeded by embodying the principles of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

Michael D’Arcy, CCBC Senior Research Associate, writes about the Fleadh

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann which was held in Belfast for the first time a few weeks ago generated unprecedented enjoyment, togetherness and sheer joy, along with record crowds and a much-needed boost to city centre businesses, especially in the hospitality sector. At the heart of this outstanding achievement for everyone concerned were the spirit, principles and processes of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (BGFA). The Fleadh will take place in Belfast again in 2027 and work has already begun to tackle the unexpected challenge of ensuring it at least matches if not exceeds this year’s outstanding success!

The achievements of this year’s Fleadh have been widely recognised and almost universally praised across all sections of Northern Ireland society, and especially by those who participated as musicians, organisers and spectators or were its economic beneficiaries. For example, speaking of his participation and contribution to the event as a unionist and former member of the UK military Maurice Brown, Director of the Ulster Bands showcase, told BBC Northern Ireland:

“this week was beyond my wildest dreams… it genuinely feels like I’m living in a parallel universe… let’s keep that buzz going, lets see where this can take us, it’s been groundbreaking for everyone… the week was the greatest Belfast has ever had in living memory… every culture has been represented, every tradition… everybody who has wanted to take part in the Fleadh has been afforded the luxury to do so in a safe and comfortable environment.” [1]

It is crucial for its future well-being that the fundamental contribution of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement to enabling that ‘safe and comfortable environment’ is fully recognised and understood. The realisation during the Fleadh of ambitious cultural dreams and long nurtured musical ambitions on a cross community and cross border basis, first in Derry/L’derry in 2013 and now in Belfast was underpinned by the 1998 Agreement’s commitment to respect, understanding and tolerance. This includes in relation to linguistic diversity and the right of all people, in Northern Ireland to identify as British, Irish or both is recognised, acknowledged and understood.

That said those who experienced the fear, terror and relentless tragedy of the Troubles and its large scale political violence or its legacy in the immediate aftermath of mistrust and absence of inter-community respect were certainly aware of the fundamental improvement for lives and livelihoods the event personified. As Wille Jack, a Director of Commercial Inns which operates the Duke of York, Harp Bar and Dark Horse pubs and has worked in Belfast City Centre for 40 years, observed to BBC Northern Ireland[2]:

“Scenes that we had and experienced over the last eight days were just out of this world… It was such a friendly city… there was not one incident in any of our establishments that would cause to get anyone involved, not even any bad words, it was just such a positive image of Belfast… visitors ranged from Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody to Jimmy Nesbitt and the taoiseach (Irish prime minster).”

Having also met a record number of people from Cork who did not know the extent to which Belfast has moved on to be a dramatically improved place, he added:

“During the Troubles the streets were dark but even then we’ve had 27 years of peace since the Good Friday Agreement. Never have I seen a city so vibrant and so positive in 40 years, (and this) would have been unimaginable 20, 30 years ago and that the city has gone exponentially upwards. It’s like a rocket, have we created a monster for next year? Perhaps. It proves the city can cope.”

Thankfully those ‘dark days’ were not experienced by the younger peace generations amongst the estimated 1.6m people who were in Belfast for the Fleadh. They just got on with enjoying the music along with the craic and no memories comparable to Jack’s were triggered.

Today the 1998 Agreement’s core purpose remains to embed the spirit and principles along with the stability and democratic process which underpinned this event’s complete expression of peace and prosperity. The thirtieth anniversary of the BGFA can benefit from leveraging the achievements it demonstrated have been made so as to assist in adapting to new 21st Century social and economic realities and circumstances now all too evident.[3]

The Fleadh is a positive starting point for this process in the social and cultural sphere because it demonstrated the considerable and underappreciated progress that has been made to implement the Agreement’s pillar principles, including:

Benefits for Business and the Economy: it will be difficult to calculate the additional revenue generated by the Fleadh across the totality of economic activity it touched from hospitality to retail to transport and beyond, but it must rank as one of the most beneficial all island events for a local economy. This makes it an evidently successful demonstration of the mutually beneficial economies of scale, proximity and conditions possible within the All-Island Economy and its island of Ireland demographic (e.g. provide a sufficiently compelling reason for a significant section of the island’s 7 million plus population to congregate and they will, including coming to Belfast from Cork!).

Being British or Irish or Both[4]: a principle agreed by the Governments for the purpose of citizenship and political identity, and unique within the UK, the Fleadh has shown that national identity, in all its complexity, can now be inclusively expressed and demonstrated in music and dance. If there is one thing both new and old cultures and traditions on the island share it’s a close interest in, and identification with, their cultural identity as manifest in sound and song.

Working together in partnership, equality and mutual respect as the basis of relationships within Northern Ireland, and between North and South : created the conditions where the event was a unprecedented success and as such fully reflected the commitment in the BGFA’s Declaration of Support. For example, as political support was central and essential to the Fleadh’s effective and universally praised delivery, the Leaders and Parties on Belfast City Council, including last year’s DUP and this year’s Sinn Fein Lord Mayors, translated these principles into mutual benefits through their joint actions and decisions.

Manifesting Reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust: is another Declaration of Support commitment including those that are the physical, social and legacy barriers of a divided city and society. The essential purposefulness of all involved to bring the inclusive organisational construct of the Fleadh is an landmark example for Belfast of its application and the resulting delivery of current benefits and creation of future potential opportunities. In another example, the address of deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at its opening ceremony has been particularly noted by many commentators as reflecting this key principle and its spirit.

Added value of North/South Implementation Bodies (NSIBs): having been set up under Strand Two of the BGFA to support cross border collaboration they were there for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and Belfast City Council to jointly engage with. So, when the local government resources of the Council were put to work delivering the role, responsibilities and requirements of their core all-island partners Comhaltas they could tap into the relevant NSIBs operational cross border experience along with cross community, and indeed international knowledge networks and presence. For example, Tourism Ireland, which promote tourism on the island of Ireland internationally said their pre-Fleadh promotional work had reached up to 14 million people in the US and 3.3 million music fans in the UK along with media in Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain the Netherlands and the Nordics – so they were all tuned into Belfast at its best.[5]

Viewed from the perspective of the BGFA’s future all of this represents an energised, timely and necessary demonstration of the progress that has been made since the 1990s. So, when undertaking the necessary operational reset, refresh and renewal of the 1998 Agreement there is now concrete evidence that its spirit and principles have become a widely accepted part of who and what Northern Ireland is today.

BGFA@30 is, therefore, a unique opportunity for inclusive considerations, conversations and activities focused on its present as well as its future. It could extend beyond politics and governance to engage with society, citizens and business along with culture, including through their organisation agencies and representatives in Northern Ireland and across the island as well as between these islands and beyond.

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[1] An Unrecognisable City: the Impact of Belfast’s First Fleadh: BBC Northern Ireland, August 16^th 2026 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj03vj4r288o

[2] Ditto

[3] For example, see my recent Report for the CCBC on The Collective Contribution of the North/South Implementation Bodies’ https://crossborder.ie/reports/s225-report-the-collective-contribution-of-the-strand-2-implementation-bodies/

[4]  The text in italics is from the Agreement’s Declaration of Support that summarises its core commitments. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/619500728fa8f5037d67b678/The_Belfast_Agreement_An_Agreement_Reached_at_the_Multi-Party_Talks_on_Northern_Ireland.pdf and https://assets.ireland.ie/documents/good-friday-agreement.pdf

[5] See https://www.tourismireland.com/news-and-press-releases/press-releases/article/tourism-ireland-leverages-fleadh-cheoil-na-h%C3%A9ireann-2026-to-highlight-belfast-and-northern-ireland