The Nobel Peace Prize has gone to some less-than-deserving recipients over the years (understatement). But in honour of St Patrick's Day, here's some homework for you on two recipients who did, in fact, deserve the prize.

https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/laureates/1998

You can read the entirety of the Good Friday Agreement online. For such an incredibly important document, it isn't that long.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement

1998 - Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Good Friday Agreement only came about through a heroic effort by so many people. A tremendous amount of forgiveness and forbearance was needed on both sides to even sit in the same room as each other after all that had been done to their people. But there they sat, eventually, and they talked, and they agreed.

Peace once seemed to be impossible in Northern Ireland. It wasn't. We've been at peace for 28 years now.

It wasn't easy. But it reminds you of what can be possible.

And on a personal note, it was because of the GFA that my dad could, after thirty years, finally come home. That's why I'm here now, and why I too can call this place my home.
@astronomerritt I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't realize *just* how modern that peace is. Like, I knew conceptually that the Troubles existed. I didn't learn until well after how truly violent they were. I especially didn't realize that peace was made while I was in college.

@astronomerritt fucking hell, I'm doing a quick read to educate myself a bit and have already stumbled across U2 song titles that I didn't know were historical events.

If anybody was wondering why America is the way it is, it's because our schooling is dogshit.

@dave America isn't alone in this. The English level of awareness of the Troubles is fucking GARBAGE and it literally HAPPENED TO THEM. Like, the IRA bombed English cities.

I was watching Irish comedian Patrick Kielty talk about working in England when the GFA referendum passed and everyone was like "oh... that's nice" and meanwhile he was crying his eyes out in his dressing room.

@astronomerritt @dave This is true. Am English and of that generation and can confirm. It's partly because we just don't get taught about England's relationship with Ireland in school, and it's partly because it was just ... normal. "Oh, an IRA bomb. *Shrug* Must be Tuesday."
@hedders @dave Drafted and deleted about a hundred replies to this that all turned into rants so I'm just going to say: yeah, it really was like that.
@hedders Just to be clear, the rants weren't aimed at you, they were aimed at the British government and media in general 😅
@astronomerritt Don't worry, I didn't read it that way!