From Wikipedia
The
Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a peace process. It included
the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations, the
complete decommissioning of the IRA's weapons, the reform of the
police, and the corresponding withdrawal of army troops from the
streets and sensitive border areas such as South Armagh and Fermanagh,
as agreed by the signatories to the Belfast Agreement (commonly known
as the "Good Friday Agreement"). The agreement reiterated the long-held
British position, which successive Irish governments had not fully
acknowledged, that Northern Ireland would remain within the United
Kingdom until a majority votes otherwise.
On the other hand, the
British Government recognised for the first time the principle that the
people of the island of Ireland as a whole have the right, without any
outside interference, to solve the issues between North and South by
mutual consent. The latter
statement was key to winning support for the agreement from
nationalists and republicans. It also established a devolved
power-sharing government within Northern Ireland (which had been
suspended from 14 October 2002 until 8 May 2007), where the government
must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties.
Though the
number of active participants in the Troubles was relatively small, and
the paramilitary organisations that claimed to represent the
communities were unrepresentative of the general population, the
Troubles touched the lives of many people in Northern Ireland on a
daily basis, while occasionally spreading to the Republic of Ireland and England.