It's not just the Good Friday Agreement turning 25 this year as one of the first babies born in Northern Ireland after the signing of the historic peace deal is also marking a milestone anniversary.
Erin McArdle was born at Antrim Area Hospital less than an hour after the Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998. She will turn 25 years old on Easter Monday.
Erin has grown up aware of her symbolic status as a peace baby and used it to reach across the divide in her native Ballymena.
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"Growing up I was always made to feel very special, in particular by my mum and dad. A lot of the milestones of my life to date have been marked like starting school and university," she told Belfast Live.
"When I look back at all the newspaper coverage from around the time I was born and as a child growing up, it's hard to believe now that that was actually me.
"My mum has always kept every article that was ever written about me and as I grew up, I liked to look at it. Hopefully one day, I'll be able to show it all to my own family and explain how special it was at the time given how far we've come."
During primary and secondary school, Erin worked in several cross-community groups through primary schools, St Brigid’s and Dunclug in Ballymena, including the Ballymena Learning Together Programme, making life-long friends in the Protestant community.
"Growing up I didn't really see my friends as Catholic or Protestant and there wasn't anything I felt I couldn't do because of my religion," she added.
"My friends always thought it was hilarious that I was the 'peace baby' and while they may have made jokes, they also thought it was an amazing thing that I should be very proud of, which I am.
"The friends I made back then are still my lifelong friends today. We did a lot of residential trips away and I was involved in lots of sports including netball, Gaelic football and camogie.
"I feel so lucky to have grown up at the time I did, especially when you hear stories from people like your grandparents about what it was like not being able to go places and the fear people had."
Erin added: "I didn't really follow politics that closely but I was always aware of the significance of what was going on. But 25 years on, even though I feel very safe and live in a very inclusive community, I know that there's a lot of work to do particularly when we don't have a functioning government in Stormont at the moment.
"I think we need something to happen there soon as we're still coming through the pandemic and facing a cost of living crisis so people need that support and guidance."
Erin's parents, Kevin and Caroline, and her siblings Jessica, Rhiannon, Leah and Rory, are just as proud to have a peace baby in the family.
Mum Caroline, 49, says she and her family always hoped the timing of Erin's arrival would be a turning point and that their child would grow up in a peaceful environment.
"In the run up to her birth, there was a lot of talk about the political parties coming together to try and thrash out a way forward but we weren't sure what way things would go," she said.
Erin was born 49 minutes after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, the second of four children.
"Kevin told me later that there had been a deal done and after just having had my wee baby, I felt great and wondered what the way forward would be," Caroline added.
"The next morning the sister came and told me that I was the mum of the peace baby and that people were looking for interviews so that's when all the attention and excitement started.
"When Erin was born we hadn't thought of a name but after looking into the history of the name and that it means peace, it felt it was significant.
"She was always a very happy child and had a safe childhood. She got involved in lots of cross-community and sporting activities and as she says, some of the friends she made there are still in her life today."
Today, Erin is a student at Queen's University Belfast where she is studying Children's & Young People's Nursing and recently got engaged to her partner Dean McAtamney. Looking to the future, she sees Northern Ireland as her forever home.
"I feel this is a very safe and inclusive place to raise a family and back in 1998 when I was born I suppose many people may not have felt that way.
"My childhood and going into adulthood has been fantastic with a great support network of family and friends so I am very blessed," she added.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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