Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney has highlighted how important the Good Friday Agreement is and that it is used as "a template for peace" around the world.
He said he has seen this firsthand as a former Foreign Minister and from Ireland's time on the UN Security Council.
"Most peace processes fail in reality."
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, he said the GFA is primarily about good relationships and people being able to live their dreams and aspirations without fear and violence.
He said it also about Ireland, north and south, and Ireland and Britain's relationship being an example to the world that despite a divisive and complex environment, peace can be found with "good politics and tolerance and good trust".
He said in many ways the "hugely frustrating" issue that has arisen over the last few years is that much of that trust has been unravelled.
He said his generation has a responsibility to ensure that this peace "survives" and when necessary rebuilt.
Minister Coveney said he is encouraged by unionists saying they want a devolved government working again and all other parties in Northern Ireland echoing this.
He said he thinks US President Joe Biden's visit will "encourage" this, and added "and so it should".
Minister Coveney said Northern Ireland is not an easy place to be a politician as he reflected on the 25th anniversary of the GFA and the current situation.
"Many have been personally impacted in a major way by violence and intimidation. It is a difficult place to make politics work. It takes time for new agreements to bed down."
He said he is hopeful that in the weeks and months ahead there will be a return to devolved government and functioning assembly again.
"We need to give the DUP in particular the space they have asked for to consider the Windsor Framework."
He believes both north and south of the border there is a real eagerness to move on from the division and stand-offs linked to Brexit and make this new agreement work for everybody.
He said the Irish Government needs to help move that progress forward and to make the institutions of the GFA work for everyone.
He said people can "run ahead" towards border polls which is a "legitimate aspiration" but in the immediate future the focus needs to be on rebuilding relationships that have been damaged and trust broken.
He said that was largely linked to the fallout of Brexit.
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Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast John Finucane said the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement means a lot to him personally and that it is "hugely significant" the agreement was endorsed by such huge numbers across the island of Ireland.
"I have a distinct memory what life was like pre 1998," he said as he explained how he now looks at life in Northern Ireland through the eyes of his teenage children. "It is completely different."
He said the bedrock of this change in society is the GFA and at the heart of it was power-sharing.
Live from @QUBelfast on #RTETWIP@johnfinucane explains the importance of the #GFA anniversary
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) April 2, 2023
Rebroadcasting tonight at 23:00 on @RTEOne #RTEPolitics #Agreement25 pic.twitter.com/loB2aHmSjN
"I think it is fitting we celebrate the progress that has been made in those 25 years."
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said the anniversary means peace, and acknowledged that without this historic agreement some people would not be here today.
He said it is important to remember 3,200 people died during the Troubles and over 40,000 were injured.
He said the GFA healed a lot of wounds but not all. "We have healed many divisions and society has come together."
However, he also highlighted the "many frailties" with the GFA which he said is evident to people.
Today on #RTETWIP live from @QUBelfast @BeattieDoug speaks about #GFA25 and the return to a developed government
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) April 2, 2023
Rebroadcasting tonight at 23:00 on @RTEOne #RTEPolitics #Agreement25 pic.twitter.com/FlspzPsAuN
The DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly said she was a teenager at the time of the GFA and it was a difficult time.
She said unionism paid a big price in the GFA and that regardless of people being for or against the agreement at the time, people were pro peace and wanted the violence to stop."
She said there are still challenges in Northern Ireland as she reflected on some of those including the formation of government.
Today on #RTETWIP live from @QUBelfast @little_pengelly says her party is focused on "getting the right foundations to ensure stable government moving forward"
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) April 2, 2023
Rebroadcasting tonight at 23:00 on @RTEOne #RTEPolitics #Agreement25 #GFA25 pic.twitter.com/Mnl4ie5cI3
