What makes the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement feel different from previous milestones?
Northern Ireland is certainly making the most of marking the occasion this time, with many events taking place throughout April.
Planned visits by US president Joe Biden and former president Bill Clinton have added to the sense of spectacle.
But perhaps the major difference this time is that more of the instrumental figures in brokering the historic peace deal have since passed away.
In particular, former SDLP leader John Hume and ex-Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble - who shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their significant role - both died in the past few years.
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness died in 2017, while former SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon died in early 2020.
It means that more so than during the 10th, 15th or 20th anniversaries, this one feels like reflecting on a moment in history rather than the continuing politics of the present.
Time and space allows perspective on the huge significance of the agreement.
It is widely recognised as the key moment in largely bringing to an end the three decades of violence Northern Ireland suffered during the Troubles in which more than 3,600 people were killed.
The agreement was hard fought with difficult compromises, albeit with some constructive ambiguity.
It involved intensive negotiations between most of Northern Ireland's political parties and the British and Irish governments.
More than anything else in the past quarter-century it has shaped the Northern Ireland we know today, from our devolved political institutions to British-Irish relations.
Thousands of people are alive today because of the peace brought about by the Good Friday Agreement, according to former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.
But that peace ushered in by the agreement has been far from perfect.
The terrorism threat level being raised recently due to increased dissident republican attacks on police is a reminder of problems that continue to persist.
A feud in north Down between rival drugs gangs linked to the UDA also demonstrates how paramiliarism still blights Northern Ireland 25 years on.
Towering peace walls continue to divide some communities, with a Stormont target a decade ago to remove them all by 2023 absolutely nowhere near being met.
A political failure to deal sensitively with the legacy of the Troubles has been incredibly painful for victims' families.
In the eyes of many, there has been relative peace without the reconciliation.
A major achievement of the agreement was providing a foundation to build upon for political stability.
It sought to settle the issue of sovereignty for now by affirming Northern Ireland's place within the UK while allowing for a future border poll on a united Ireland.
A power-sharing system of government between unionists and nationalists aimed to develop consensus and cooperation.
But the structures have not been without their challenges and flaws.
A multi-party mandatory coalition makes decision-making slow and often lacking in long-term strategy.
Sharing power has all too often become sharing out power, with Stormont departments accused of operating as silos rather than collectively.
The first and deputy first minister titles for our joint heads of government - and changes via the 2006 St Andrews Agreement to how they are appointed - have created a tribal race to be top dog.
And competing vetoes built into the system based on community designations have sometimes been abused.
It is unsurprising then that over the past 25 years Stormont has been suspended for around 10 of them.
The context of collapses has ranged from delays in paramilitary decommissioning to the RHI controversy and the current stalemate over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mark Durkan, part of the SDLP's negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement, said some of the cross-community protections in the deal should have been "biodegradable" over time.
But that evolution has been slow to take shape.
With the DUP blocking Stormont when 70% of MLAs want power-sharing restored, calls will inevitably grow louder for reform.
Increased support for the Alliance Party, which remains locked out of certain Stormont votes because it does not designate as nationalist or unionist, will also add to pressure to review the system.
The structures could end up being challenged through the courts, as the party is seeking legal advice on whether the existing arrangements are human rights compliant.
Meanwhile, the challenges for Northern Ireland continue to pile up.
Stormont faces significant budgetary pressures this year in areas including health and education, while the fall-out over Brexit has strained relationships to breaking point.
Cultural disputes over issues such as flags, parades and language rights still flare up.
But 25 years on, the main elements of the Good Friday Agreement have endured.
As former Progressive Unionist Party leader Dawn Purvis told Belfast Live: "We can't go backwards - we can only go forwards."
"We have a peace and we need to protect that peace. Implementing the Good Friday Agreement has had its ups and downs and it's in one of its downs at the minute, but it's still there as an agreement, 25 years on," she said.
"It brought about peace. It brought about political change. And it really is the only show in town."
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