By Pierce Robinson -

Growing up in Enniskillen, a town scarred by the 1987 IRA bombing that killed 11 people, I was reminded daily of how fragile peace can be. After decades of violence, mistrust, and grief, it took years of negotiation - led by the British and Irish Governments with strong support from the USA and the EU - to end The Troubles.

But making peace on paper is one thing; making it work in daily life requires something deeper. That safeguard was the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The situation after The Troubles ended was tense. Debates over prisoner releases, compensation for victims, and policing reforms remained divisive. Stormont collapsed several times, and in a society where nearly every family was affected by the conflict, even the courts struggled with impartiality.

Here, the ECHR proved crucial. By embedding it in the Good Friday Agreement, disputes could be tested against internationally recognised standards rather than partisan politics in Belfast, Dublin, or Westminster. It gave people - Protestant and Catholic, unionist and nationalist - confidence that their rights would be upheld fairly.

The Agreement also recognised the right of people in Northern Ireland to be British, Irish, or both, placing responsibility on both governments to protect those rights. The ECHR continues to provide this framework, binding both countries to a common standard and allowing citizens to take cases to the ECHR if domestic systems in the UK or Ireland fail them.

Without it, many of the most difficult post-conflict issues could not have been addressed. Victims’ families used it to demand answers, especially from those linked to paramilitary groups.

Today, that safeguard is under threat. Calls from politicians in the UK to leave the ECHR pose serious risks to peace. As the European Movement UK warned on the Agreement’s 25th anniversary, undermining the legal foundations of the Good Friday Agreement risks unravelling the balance that has preserved peace for a generation.

Leaving the ECHR threatens Northern Ireland’s peace and the rights of people across the UK. To protect the Good Friday Agreement and safeguard our freedoms, the European Movement UK is asking you to add your name to the petition urging the Government to keep the UK in the ECHR.

The ECHR is not just international law. In Northern Ireland, it’s the engine behind peace: a guarantee that rights will be respected, no matter who governs. 26 years on, peace remains both precious and precarious - and leaving the ECHR risks Northern Ireland’s very existence.

P.S watch our interviews below with other people from Northern Ireland who were born before and after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, and what it means to them.