A NUMBER of events will be held in Northern Ireland, the Republic and the US in the coming days to mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast Agreement, which falls tomorrow.
Some of the key figures involved in the talks 10 years ago, either directly or indirectly, including Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former US president Bill Clinton, talks chairman Senator George Mitchell, former SDLP leader John Hume and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, will be involved in these events over today, tomorrow and into the weekend.
In New York tonight, Mr Clinton will be guest of honour at a special dinner organised by prominent Irish-Americans recognising his role in the peace process.
Tributes on behalf of Mr Ahern and former taoiseach Albert Reynolds will be delivered at the dinner, which is sponsored by the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre.
Tomorrow Mr Ahern, Mr Mitchell and several others who were directly involved in the 1998 talks will attend a symposium organised by the US-Ireland Alliance Symposium. It will be held at BBC Blackstaff Studios on Great Victoria Street in Belfast.
BBC Northern Ireland broadcaster Noel Thompson will moderate the two-hour symposium, which is organised by Trina Vargo, president of the US-Ireland Alliance.
Joining Mr Ahern and Mr Mitchell will be the head of the decommissioning body Gen John de Chastelain; Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness; Mr Hume; Mr Adams; SDLP leader Mark Durkan; Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey; former minister for foreign affairs David Andrews; former Progressive Democrats junior minister Liz O'Donnell; former Northern Secretary Paul Murphy; Prof Monica McWilliams, formerly of the Women's Coalition; former Alliance leader Lord Alderdice; Progressive Unionist Party leader Dawn Purvis and former representative of the Ulster Democratic Party, David Adams.
The European Mediation Conference also opens at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast tomorrow, running until Saturday. Organised by the Scottish Mediation Network and Mediation Northern Ireland, it will discuss developments in the practice of mediation throughout Europe.
The conference tomorrow will examine how mediation can be used to build peace, maintain social stability and promote dialogue in divided communities.
On Friday it will examine the diverse practices of mediators across Europe, while on Saturday there will be a half-day of training workshops, providing mediators with a choice of further practical professional development opportunities.
Keynote speakers tomorrow include Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who was involved in overseeing the process of IRA decommissioning.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair will join Mr Ahern for a function at Dublin Castle on Friday night. Mr Mitchell will also attend the dinner organised by the Turn The Tide of Suicide group.
Funds raised will be used to tackle suicide throughout the island of Ireland.
At the dinner, Mr Ahern will present Mr Blair with a special peace award marking his involvement in the Belfast Agreement and the subsequent years of negotiations that concluded with the St Andrews Agreement in 2006 and the formation of the powersharing Northern Executive headed by the Rev Ian Paisley and Mr McGuinness in May last year.
