Speaking at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC earlier this month, Senator George Mitchell ’54, H’83 urged European policymakers grappling with Brexit to avoid re-establishing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, reports the Irish news site breakingnews.ie.

“The governments of the US and the UK must avoid any economic decisions that cost jobs or create hardship in Northern Ireland,” he said. Mitchell was speaking at an event to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which Mitchell was instrumental in brokering.

“When I announced the Good Friday Agreement… I described it as an historic achievement and it was,” he remarked. “But I also said on that day, that by itself the agreement did not guarantee peace, or political stability or genuine reconciliation in Northern Ireland.”