Anglo-Irish Agreement 1985

Irish State Papers: The Anglo-Irish Agreement, Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA

Pete Baker on December 30, 2016, 4:57 pm

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In part 1 of 2 reports RTÉ’s round-up of the newly released confidential Irish State papers from 1986 includes a couple of items worth highlighting in relation to the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. First up is an account of a meeting in Belfast in April 1986 between David Barry, of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Anglo-Irish division, and solicitor PJ McGrory – whose son Barra McGrory, also a solicitor, has previously represented Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, and in 2011 was appointed Northern Ireland Director of …

The Thatcher debate in the Commons

Brian Walker on April 10, 2013, 6:06 pm

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The speeches from our MPs Nigel Dodds and Alastair Macdonnell during the Thatcher tributes were bound to reflect the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Neither speech was terrible. Both avoided a rant. Alastair McDonnell had the tougher job. His doctor’s experience in the face of death probably helped. But both of them followed the familiar course of judging the performance of others – in this case Mrs Thatcher –against the standards of their own impeccable contrasting rectitude. The element of self …

A profound shock to unionism – a necessary step along the road to final agreement

Brian Walker on November 15, 2010, 12:33 pm

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The Anglo-Irish Agreement whose 25th anniversary falls today immediately exposed the limitations of a unionist veto on all political progress. But its equally significant and unintended result over time was to demonstrate the impossibility of reaching full agreement without participation by all sides, Sinn Fein as well as unionists. Understandably perhaps, retired mandarins of Iveagh House like Sean Donlon stress the check to unionism. Essentially the elements of the 1985 Agreement remain the default position should the GFA and St …