♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected eds. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> hello, you're watc news. on the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement, the calls for power-sharing to return to northern ireland. a shooting in that u.s. city of louisville leaves five dead, including the governor. joe biden says he plans to run for president again in 2024 but stopped short of a formal announcement. and the mother of two british

israeli citizens killed in an attack in the west bank has now also died. ♪ hello and welcome. we begin to northern ireland which is marking 25 years since the signing of the good body agreements. the historic pce deal largely ended decades of violence in northern ireland. prime minister rishi sunakays efforts must be iensified to restore the power-sharing government that was central to the de. it collapsed in the fallout from brexit and now theolitical dysfunction and security concerns are threatening to overshadow. rishi sunak will join u.s. president joe biden in a visit to northern ireland on tuesday to commemorate the good friday agreements. a few minutes agohe u.s. national security council spoke and told the white house press corps how much the trip means to president biden. >> president biden will deliver

remarks marking the tremendous progress since the signing of the belfast good friday agreement when he five years ago. it will underscore the readiness of the united states to observe thosgains in support northern ireland's best economic potential to the benefit of all communities. today i think you all know is the 25th anniversary since the belfast good friday agreement was signed, ending decades of violence and bringing peace and stability to northern ireland. president biden cares deeply about northern ireland and has a long history of supporting peace and prosperity. >> chris, good to see you. the agreement was of courseuge milestone, a huge achievement, but it's fair to say that the path since then has been anything but smooth. chris: i think that is right, is is 25 years to the day since the good friday agreement was signed.

here in a state on the outskirts of belfast, the political process since then has not been straightfoard. i suppose back then few people would have expected it to be. this should be the home of the power-sharing regional assembly to a set up under the terms of the agreement, a unionist can work with irish nationalist who want northern irend to become part of the republic of ireland. the plan was for them to govern together, but when you look over the last 25 years, for 10 of those 25 years, the power-sharing regional government is not been operating because of various political crises. we are in the middle of one of those crises at the moment. the democratic vision is party is currently vetoing the formation of the coalion because of their opposition to brexit trading arrangements for northern ireland which they see

as something that undermines northern ireland's links to great britain. it's also the backdrop against which president biden will be visiting. on the other hand, and people have been emphasizing this over the holiday we can, when you look at the place northern ireland is today compared to what it was 20 -- 25 years ago, there such a massive difference. political violence is rare, and you've got much more economic prosperity here. you have a whole generation of people who have grown up without knowing the conflicts that largely ended with the good friday agreement in 1990 in that conflict went on for three decades and cost the lives of around 3500 people. so bloodshed on that scale is pretty much unimaginable now. we can expect over the next few days, particularly whenever president biden does touchdown in this part of the u.k. on tuesday evening u.k. time, the

emphasis will very much be on the transformative effect of the good friday agreement, the fact that northern ireland has changed very much for the better and that while there are still problems and political tensions, the piece has largely held as a great diplomatic achievement. ben: absolutely, and you touched on it about the whole generation that has grown up not knowing -- not known that violence and checkpoints across the city. i wonder if they look at bill nash that building behind you and they look at what the politicians can do for them right now given that stalemate we are seeing. chris: there certainly is a nse of disillusionment with politics in general in northern ireland. you do hear people wondering out loud if the divisions of the past will ever really be in the past, if northern ireland is basically a place where there is always going to be a level of

political dysfunction. talking to people who were born around the time of the good friday agreement, it does seem to me that they have very different perspectives on the place they live in now compared with previous generations. for example, speaking recently to 225-year-olds, -- two 25 euros, and they told me they are very thankful for being in that generation which came after the good friday agreements. they grew up with friends from both sides of the traditional divide. they've seen northern ireland evolve and change and they feel it still has a journey to travel but they look back at the seams of northern ireland before they were born, bombs going off, murders being a daily event and writing being very commonplace, they can imagine that is what

northern ireland used to be like before they were around. while people are very conscious of the problems, there still is a lingering sense of injustice and no agreement on how the crime should be investigated. on the whole this we can come of the people in northern ireland are thankful for the past 15 years that it has been so different than the 30 years that went before. ben: it's good to talk to you, chris, live in belfast for us. mary robinson, it's good to have you with us tonight. chris they're running through some of the history to this and some of those changes. i wonder first of all how you would characterize the achievements of the good friday agreements. >> is very hard to capture in a few minutes, and i'm glad we are having lots of opportunity to mark the anniversary.

we've talked for three days about the importance of the agreement. so many people were involved. it mattered so much. i remember as president going to warrington after a terrible bombing there, being the irish president, taking part in the warrington project to bring peace afterwards. i remember the suffering, the terrible trauma. 3500 people were killed and many others suffered and stl suffer trauma. this agreement in its complexity and constructive ambiguity is a wonderful example for the world. it is known all around the world. when i became commissioner of human rights, at the time of the agreement, because i finished my term in september 1997, seven months before the good friday

agreement, the belfast good friday agreement, and i was aware of how it resonated and still resonates with agreements all over the world, because it was so complex. it was the multiparty agreement, it was the two governments. it was north, south, east, west. it had human rights. it had decommissioning. it had victim support. it had a whole lot of issues. we should really understand how significant it was and how we must build on it now for generations going forward. ben: interestingly talk of those generations. that deal back in 1990 made some very key promises to the irish people. it was about economic opportunity, prosperity, stability. would you say that those promises have been met, that they have been kept? >> i think the promises were

dependent on the assembly particularly in the executive working. as we know for political reasons, that didn't happen for quite a long time. in northern ireland, i'm aware there are very real problems now , health problems, cost-of-living problems, real verty problems, and disillusionment with the process. but in comparison to what i remember of the violence, the awfulness of waking up to yet another terrible killing, terrible bombing, terrible savage awfulness, going to belfast now, over the years and quite recently, you don't even know you are crossing the border. there is a sense of real possibilities. it should be better, there would

be -- it would be better if there was a functioning executive. we all know that. we want that functioning executive back. i think the windsor framework has helped and has ironed out some of the genuine problems with the northern ireland protocol. i hope now that it will be seen that this can give northern ireland incredible advantage of having access to the european market that the rest of the u.k. doesn't have. ben: stay with us one second, i just want to show viewers the other main story we are following tonight, that shooting in the u.s. city of louisville that has left five people dead, including the governor. six people were told are in the hospital. a prconference being held there in louisville. we will bri you any further developments that we get from that. but mary, i want to continue the conversation we are having right now because that is our other

main story, the 25th anniversary of the good friday agreement. you talk about some of the difficulties on the road to where we are today to this 25 years. but again, if you just look at what is happened today, petrol bombs and other missiles thrown at the police. the northern ireland secretary describing peace in the region as fragile and imperfect. i wonder if we can ever feel any hope that we will get to a place where that piece is more permanent, more long-lastin mary: there is a lot of media northern ireland and of course the dissidents want their moment of marching along. it was a small demonstration and not very significant. yes, the peace is fragile and one sentence -- in one sense, a

really serious incident and there may be other possibilities of serious incidents, but these are minor in comparison to the possibilities of what -- bipartisan support from the united states. i was in washington recently for some of e lead up to the st. patrick's day celebrations, and the strong bipartisan congress of the united states at the highest levels, the strong support which will be there next week of president bill clinton and hillary clinton, both of whom played a major part. george mitchell coming over again near the chair. i remember a wonderful phrase of billy hutchison when he came down when i was president, just before the good friday agreement in the buildup to it. and i said, how is george

mitchell making such progress? he listened us out. he was so patient with this very difficult process of trying to get agreement with people who had to give a lot to get agreement. the really had to be brave enough to say this is for the future. now we have to build on that for the future going forward. it's a wonderful opportunity now for northern ireland. i hope it will be embraced by all politicians. not political. i'm outside politics is a former president. i have a love for northern ireland, as i said in my inauguration in 1990, i said i want to extend the hand of friendship and love to people of northern ireland. ben: mary robinson, it is so good to have you on the program tonight.

the former irish president, thank you. we were showing you that press conference at is now underway in louisville. louisville police now naming the gunman as a 23 year old. let's listen into that press conference right now. >> to tommy's family, to the families of jim, josh, juliana farmer, rachel and i join you, the families across our entire city and beyond in grieving the shocking and painful loss of your lives. the chief, the governor, myself, we visited in the hospital this morning with several of their families to offer them our support and our love during this unthinkable day.

we will continue to offer our support and love and anything else we can provide to help them. we were also there along with several of my colleagues from o council to think and support the officers of lmpd for their hero work today and every day. and say thank you to the new graduating class who was there to support their colleague as he continues to fight for his life. was. this was an evil act of targeted violence, and to add to that tragedy, a few blocks away, shortly after this happened, another man lost his life, and a woman was shot in a completely different at of targeted violence. the two incidents appear to be

entirely unrelated, but they both took lives. they both leave people scarred, grieving, and angry. i share all of those feelings myself right now. this is really difficult for all of us across the entire city to process and accept. i ask that we respect the needs of the families and loved ones of the people whose lives were lost today and the people whose lives will never be the same. i'm a survivor of a workplace shooting. to the people who survived, where the you are physically hurt or noti know that you are hurting too. we are here for you as well. to their survivors and their

families, our entire city is to wrap our -- is here to wrap our arms around you. we have set up a family assistance center through the red cross to provide support and services to those families today and in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead that we know will be challenging. to provide you with whatever you need to deal with the trauma of this moment. the same applies to our police officers and first responders. our city is here for everyone impacted. we are a strong city and we will be here for support. as the chief mentioned, our lmpd officers went into that building knowing that they were risking their lives to save other lives. and that's exactly what they did. they exchanged gunfire with the shooter.

to officer wilt and his family, we will continue to pray and support you. to the other two lmpd officers who were injured, thank you, and all of your coeagues for your service today and every day. i also want to thank all of our other first responders, fire, ems, jefferson county sheriff, state and federal agencies that are helping us at this time. and to dr. smith, to you and all of the other doctors and nurses and team at u of l help for your help every day, you, too, or saving lives and our city, and we thank you. for the rest of us in our city, let's ho each other close and provide comfort where we can. that's what we've done in the past, and that's what we must continue to do now. we have already received offers of assistance from people across

this city and country. thank you. by the end of the day, we will be providing specific information on how to provide donations to those impacted today if you would like. we will also have more information by the end of the day about a communitywide vigil for the targeted acts of violence that happened today, and any day in our city. we will continue to move forward with strength, with prayer, with love and support and determination. thank you all. now i'm going to turn it over to governor andy beshear. >> today is a tragic day in louisville and for the entire commonwealth of kentucky. acts of violence like this hurt. they tear at the fabric of who we are, at our state, and our

country and our city. today i am hurt, and i'm hurting. and i know so many people out there are as well. we lost four children of god today. one of whom was one of my closest friends. tommy elliott helped me build my law career. helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad. he's one of the people i talk to most in the world, and very rarely are we talking about my job. he was an incredible friends. we also lost juliana farmer, jim, josh, each amazing people whose families grieve them, whose community will mourn and miss them. these are irreplaceable, amazing individuals that a terrible act

of violence toward for all of us. we also pray for our lmpd officer and two others that right now while perhaps stable, are still fighng for their lives with a need for our care, and, yes, for our prayers, because i believe, and i believe that prayers lift all of us up and those families would appreciate them. while i hurt today, while i will grieve when i am able, i'm also grateful. i'm grateful for an incredibly quick response from lmpd, the jeffersocounty sheriff's office louisville fire and rescue, louisville metro ems, getting to this scene in three minutes. i'm convinced saved other people's lives and i know saved two other of my friends. one i received incorrect

information this morning and thought was gone and i started to mourn, and now i know he is ok. while it will take him a while to heal, is so good to s my friend, see them there with his wife and know he is still with us. i want to thank fbi, every single law enforcement agency that is going to bring their entire weight and their entire resources to bear so that we know exactly what happened in this situation. there are more first responders than the ones we have listed, because the team at ul hospital our first responders too. the first battle was stopping that gunman. the second is doing everything we can to keep those that have been wounded alive. and i want to say to this good doctor behind me, and we have worked together through pandemics, andow this, that i'm really proud of what his

team is doing. i was in a room where one of those families that are rightfully worried got an update. it was specific and also provided with compassion. these doctors and nurses are fighting for the lives of our friends, of our family, and we are deeply grateful to them. i think what we need most right now, in a word, is love. just love. love for these families. they are going to need it. i can tell you. i've talked to them. i'm very close with one of them. they are going to need that love, and we need love for each other. it seems like we argue so much in this country, so much anger. i still believe that love, compassion, and humanity can lead us to a better place. this is really hard the day after easter. easter is about a rebirth, a

better world, one where we are all supposed to work together to get there. one that is supposed to teach us love from our savior, the king. the world fell in love with him not because of paved -- his power, but because of his compassion. i believe what we can do, whether it's anything, or just your values, is ensure that today more than anything is about these families, is about those families that are afraid they're going to lose their loved one, about those that have been through the worst and while they may have survived, or going to bear the scars inside and outside today. it's got to be about them and the heroic actions of everybody and yes, i know in the days to come, we will talk about issues. but i think the thing that people get wrong after the most difficult of times and days, and as governor, i've had to see a lot of them, is that today ought to be focused on my friend and

on everybody else's friends and loved ones that are no longer with us. faith teaches me that while the body is mortal, the soul is eternal. so i know that i will see tommy again, and i know that all of these families and friends in this community will be reunited in a better place. ben: narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo.accountants and ad. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by jand peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.