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The tenth anniversary of the Good Friday agreement has produced plenty of self-congratulation about peace in Northern Ireland (NI), but it has also smoked out a critical analysis of the deal by people like Charles Moore, Dean Godson, Peter Hitchens, Melanie Phillips and Max Hastings.
This right-wing critique, lightly caricatured, is that the Blair government sacrificed the moderate centre of NI politics and gave in to the demands of terrorists rather than defeating them militarily. The compromises necessary to make peace gave power to the two extremes. We would be better off with the moral clarity of the Troubles. Above all, they argue, the peace process in NI should not be seen as a model for peace talks elsewhere in the world.
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