Rachel Watson from Maguiresbridge was born on April 15, 1998 just a few days after the GFA was signed. Here she writes a reflection on what the peace deal means 25 years on for her.

Living in Northern Ireland, The Troubles and The Belfast Agreement are not new terms to anyone, but I know to my generation it is sometimes easy to forget that the violence and the heartbreak that so many lived through is not so distant that we can pretend it’s now ancient history.

I am lucky to have not lost any direct family in The Troubles, but from a relatively young age I found myself hearing the lived experiences of those who had, and who had lived through circumstances that someone my age can barely imagine.

I was involved in an organisation supporting innocent victims and survivors of The Troubles from a young age, and participated in projects that connected young people to those who had been directly affected.

I heard stories from those who had family members murdered, who had been injured whether that be physically or psychologically, and those reflections are something I have carried with me in my life.

It can be very difficult for my generation to truly understand what happened in The Troubles and it is often assumed that the GFA drew a line in the sand and that we would now move forward without the shackles of the past.

I now work for the organisation I volunteered with as a child – South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF). This organisation, with its central base in Lisnaskea, is an organisation that supports innocent victims and survivors of The Troubles.

Every day I hear the impact that they had on people, and how much hurt is still caused by the lack of justice or accountability for the crimes committed.

Unfortunately, it may be too easy for our generation to move on and say that the GFA marked a new period in our history.

I believe that would be doing further injustice to those that suffered hurt at the hands of terrorists, to sweep those experiences under the rug for the sake of moving on.

In the absence of justice, accountability and acknowledgement is what a lot of victims and survivors are asking for, that there would be an end to the glorification of terrorism and violence.

I believe that shouldn’t be an unreasonable request.