Key figures within the Colombian and wider South American independence movement, spearheaded by revolutionary Simon Bolívar, were assisted by Irishmen during that period.

These included Cork-born Daniel Florence O’Leary, who played a key role as a general during the war for independence and remains memorialised in Colombia and Venezuela until this day.

Having left behind Barrack Street, O’Leary became one of Bolívar’s top generals and acted as aide-de-camp.

Colombia and Ireland are also similar in other ways, namely the requirement for peace processes in both jurisdictions.

While Northern Ireland’s peace process was finally agreed in 1998 after the Good Friday Agreement, the process in Colombia was only completed in 2016, after agreement was reached between the Colombian government and the revolutionary guerilla group, FARC.

The conflict began in 1964 when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, first emerged amid crackdowns on communist groups by the Colombian government. This kicked off back-and-forth attacks between the two sides.

However, it is important to clarify that while FARC was by far the largest paramilitary organisation, it was not the only one operating in Colombia. The conflict itself was extremely complex and negotiations remain ongoing to get the final dissidents to lay down their arms.

But, the main peace agreement reached in 2016 was between FARC and the Colombian government.

During his recent trip to Colombia, Tánaiste Micheál Martin focussed on that peace process and more specifically, the role Ireland can play in ensuring its continuation in its role as a guarantor of the agreement.

Mr Martin said the Colombian government “really value” Ireland’s input through the state’s role as a guarantor.

“Ireland fully supports the total peace agenda. We were honoured to accept the role as guarantor in the dialogue process with the EMC (Estado Mayor Central) armed group. 

"We believe that ending violence, protecting and improving the lives of civilians and enabling the [Colombian] State to deliver transformative change and equality in the territories must be at the heart of this process,” Mr Martin said, welcoming a further round of peace negotiations.

The impact of the Northern Peace process cannot be understated. In an interview with Al Jazeera, after the peace process had concluded, former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that the Northern Ireland peace process had been an “inspiration” for Colombia.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Chief of Staff to the Colombian Peace Commissioner Alvaro Jimenez said that one aspect he sees as similar between the two processes are the inclusion of those involved in the armed conflict in politics.

“From the 1990’s and up to this date, we have sought active participation of armed actors in the political arena,” Mr Jimenez said.

He also mentioned the reform of security and armed forces, referencing the changing of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) into a new police service — the PSNI.

At present, Colombia is moving towards reform of its security services — particularly its police — adding that they would like to examine the experience of change in Northern Ireland to help its own reform.

Asked what he believed was the main parallel between the two peace processes, the Tánaiste pointed to the need to ensure trust between various communities, alongside the need for international verification and monitoring.

He cited the Independent Monitoring Commission, set up by the Irish and UK governments in 2004, with a remit to monitor ongoing activity of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.

“I shared all of that with the minister (of Defence for Colombia) because that will be critical for them, particularly in this phase of their peace process, in terms of verification processes, in terms of observance of ceasfires and so forth,” Mr Martin said.

The one big difference between the two peace processes is dealing with the legacy of the violence and here Colombia has done better than Ireland.

Mr Santos acknowledges this, saying that Colombia wanted to ensure that victims were placed “at the centre of negotiations”.

This came in the form of a system of transitional justice, which has widely been accepted as having worked while not always being smooth.

The Truth Commission, the body set up to deal with legacy, issued its final report last year, with 11 ‘macro cases’ being examined by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

These macro cases are the most serious crimes that have been committed, either by FARC or State actors, with decisions already having been made on FARC kidnappings and extra-judicial killings by the military. It is expected that non-penal and restorative sanctions will be handed down in the coming months.

The focus on justice for victims within the peace deal led to public apologies, both from FARC and the Colombian government for the actions they took during the war.

For FARC, in 2016 they apologised for the “deep pain” caused by kidnappings, while more recently the Colombian government apologised for the extra-judicial killing of 19 civilians between 2004 and 2008.

However, how to deal with the Northern Ireland legacy was not set down in the Good Friday Agreement, barring the release of all paramilitary prisoners who had served two years in prison.

Dealing with the legacy of the Troubles has always been a complex issue, with it coming under greater scrutiny in recent months as the UK delivers its unilateral Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

The bill itself will allow for a limited form of immunity to those accused of killings if they assist with investigations by a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation.

The laws have been widely criticised by human rights campaigners and political parties, both in Dublin and Belfast, with the Irish Government launching an inter-State case against the UK Government over the legislation.

On decommissioning, there remains a difference between the two agreements. As part of the Colombian peace accord, FARC was due to decommission all their weapons within six months of a final deal being ratified.

While they did not make this six-month deadline, in August 2017, FARC had officially handed over more than 8,000 weapons and almost 1.3m rounds of ammunition as part of an UN-supervised demobilisation.

Despite deadlines for decommissioning being set for May 2000 and then June 2001 after the 1998 GFA, these deadlines were missed.

The IRA argued that they would not be in a position to carry out the decommissioning while accusing the British Government of breaking promises around the reform of the RUC.

However, when decommissioning had not been completed by mid-2001, then first minister David Trimble resigned from his role, piling more pressure on the IRA to step up and destroy its weaponry.

This was eventually agreed, however, just months later on August 1, 2023. The final rounds of decommissioning were completed in 2004, with estimates of 1,000 rifles, three tonnes of semtex explosives and over 100 handguns destroyed.

While the Irish peace process has been an inspiration to Colombia, it's clear we have plenty to learn from them.