RELIGIOUS and political discrimination in Northern Ireland and the efforts of schools in Ireland to assimilate Protestant children into the education system were raised by the then Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, when he met the British prime minister, Mr Harold Wilson in December 1966.
At that first meeting of the two leaders, Mr Lynch listed the grievances of the Catholic community in Northern Ireland - in particular the flawed electoral system and the discrimination in housing allocation and schooling.
He told Mr Wilson the discrimination was causing great ill feeling in Northern Ireland and that while changes had been made to the method of parliamentary elections, the real challenge lay in redefining local elections.
Mr Lynch told the British prime minister: "Anything that can be done to reduce political and religious discrimination in Northern Ireland would considerably help to achieve a relaxation intension."
In the Republic, Mr Lynch said, great efforts had been made to accommodate the sensitivities of the Protestant community and in the Government's assistance to schools the tendency was to discriminate in favour of the Protestant community.
In his reply to Mr Lynch, Mr Wilson expressed the deep concern held by many Labour backbenchers and the Cabinet at the discrimination against the Catholic community in Northern Ireland.
He said he was aware of the reforms being sought by the Northern Ireland prime minister, Capt Terence O'Neill, in the electoral, housing and educational representation of Catholics in the North.
But Capt O'Neill's problem, Mr Wilson admitted, was that if he went ahead with reforms too quickly he could face problems from within his own party.
A practical arrangement for financing Irish peacekeeping forces abroad was also raised by Mr Lynch. He told Mr Wilson the Irish government was seriously worried about the cost of sending such forces abroad. He said it was anomalous that the Irish Government should pay proportionately, more than the United States did for these activities. The response of the British government was not recorded in the papers.