The Good Friday Agreement was a defining moment in Irish history, but more work remains to be done, including a renewed push for Irish unity, writes Sinn Fein President GERRY ADAMS. THIS week the first of the Irish American presidential forums will be held in New York. It was as a result of one of these, back in 1992, that a presidential hopeful, Bill Clinton, made commitments which changed the shape of U.S. foreign policy toward Ireland. Irish America made that happen, and subsequently it made an invaluable contribution to the Irish peace process and to the achieving of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed since those momentous days. The Good Friday Agreement marks an historic and defining point of change in the history and development of this island.But as former U.S. Senator George Mitchell said at the time, getting the agreement was the easy bit. Implementing it would be another matter. And he was right. The last 10 years of my life have been dominated by this task. There has been crisis after crisis, multiple suspensions of the institutions and endless negotiations. There has also been the Omagh bombing and other killings, and the change in the political support for the various parties to the agreement.But thankfully we are all now in a different place and in a new dispensation. There is still work to do to bed the institutions down. Elements within the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) remain resolutely opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, and that party is in a phase of transition as Ian Paisley bows out. So none of us can take any of this for granted. There are still lots of challenges ahead.The Good Friday Agreement is unique. The extent and depth of the difficulties it seeks to resolve is evident in the scope of the measures it covers - constitutional issues, political matters, institutional arrangements, human rights, equality, policing, justice, language and culture issues.As a consequence it differs in many ways from earlier efforts to reach agreement, most importantly because it is inclusive. But it also secured significantly more progress in the areas of policing and justice, equality and human rights, the Irish language as well as constitutional and political matters, and measures to end discrimination and sectarianism; than heretofore.As its heart the Good Friday Agreement is about change - political, social, economic and constitutional. It is essentially about establishing a level playing field.As a result there has been fierce opposition from within unionism and the British system to it.Its opponents fear that the achievement of equality and the entrenchment of people's rights and entitlements will erode the very reason for the existence of the union with Britain.But, despite these many difficulties, and to the surprise and delight of many, significant progress has been made, especially in the last year.The fact is that Paisley, and who whoever replaces him as leader of the DUP, will be sitting as an equal with Martin McGuinness in a power-sharing Executive in the north.At the start of this year a delegation of ministers from the Irish government met an equal number of ministers from the North and set about taking decisions on a range of issues that will affect all of the people of this island. And there wasn't an English minister around the place!So the Good Friday Agreement has heralded many changes. Some hugely significant, others less so, but all nonetheless all contributing to a sea change in the political life and fortunes of the people of this island.But there is much more to do, including bringing to a satisfactory conclusion the issues of transfer of powers on policing and justice, an Irish language act, and the Bill of Rights. I am confident that we can continue to make progress on all of this.In the time ahead Sinn Fein will also seek to further enhance and develop our changing relationship with unionism. Already I see greater evidence at community level of unionists recognizing the sense of working with Sinn Fein to overcome common problems and improve the quality of life of their families and neighbors.And of course, as Irish democrats our goal is to achieve the reunification of Ireland and to end British jurisdiction on this island.I believe that we are closer to bringing that about than at any time in our past. There is growing support for Irish unity, and there is a growing awareness of the importance of the all-Ireland economy to this nation's future prosperity and growth.But none of this will happen by chance. Those of us who want a united Ireland need to set out how we can reach this historic goal and create the conditions to achieve it.I have established a high powered task force within Sinn Fein to produce a strategy to achieve this, to drive forward the roadmap to Irish unity. Among this group is Larry Downes, the president of Friends of Sinn Fein in the USA.Over the years we have looked to our friends in the U.S. and across the world to support the Irish peace process. And without their support we would not have succeeded.As we approach the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising we are asking the Irish diaspora to put its full weight behind a renewed campaign for Irish reunification.And we are asking all of those who support Irish unity and the right of the Irish people to determine our own future, to join with us in this extraordinary endeavor, and to make it a genuine movement for change over the next number of years.Sinn Fein has played a key role in the peace process and in bringing about the extraordinary changes that have occurred in recent years.And Irish Republicans are determined and committed to achieving greater change in the time ahead.