The Good Friday Agreement established power-sharing in Northern Ireland in the wake of prolonged conflict, arguably bringing about a cross-community consensus for the foundations on which peace would rest. The Agreement acknowledged that Northern Ireland is part of the UK whilst the principle of consent element of the Agreement means that a United Ireland is able to take place if a majority of people in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland want it to. Both sides of the community were taken into account by a mechanism which allows for the Assembly to be elected every five years, but only so long as parties on both sides of the divide participate. A stop-start nature of the Assembly and Executive has ensued and 25 years since the Agreement was signed, these institutions aren’t functioning.