Both nationalists and unionists are ambivalent about a Northern Irish assembly.

ECONOMIST: The end of the beginning

Until 1986 the republican movement rejected not just Parliament in Westminster and the notion of a Northern Ireland assembly, but also the legitimacy of the Irish state and its parliament.

ECONOMIST: North meets South

The 65-page document, signed in Belfast in 1998, led to the Northern Ireland assembly and executive being set up, new cross-border institutions involving the Irish Republic and a body linking devolved assemblies across the UK with Westminster and Dublin.

BBC: US urges Northern Ireland to 'consolidate peace gains'