Anglo Irish Agreement not the catalyst of peace process, Bertie Ahern says

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has strongly disputed the status of the 1985 Anglo Irish Agreement as the catalyst of the Northern peace process.

Mr Ahern said it was the Downing Street Declaration, signed almost a decade later, that was the “key cornerstone document that provided the template for peace”.

Launching a new biography of his predecessor as Fianna Fáil leader, Albert Reynolds, Mr Ahern said the Longford politician – who was taoiseach from 1992 to 1994 – would be remembered for his role in getting the declaration over the line.

“There is a story often put forward, which is done in a very orchestrated way, that it was the Anglo Irish Agreement of 1985 that was the key [document]. That is just not true.”

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The agreement of 1985 was signed by a Fine Gael-Labour government led by Garret FitzGerald and the Conservatives under prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

It gave the Irish State a role in the Northern apparatus for the first time, including the formation of a secretariat in Maryfield, outside Belfast.

Mr Ahern said, however, that in the negotiations between the parties in the lead-up to the declaration, the Anglo Irish Agreement was never mentioned.

“If you mentioned the Anglo Irish Agreement to unionists they walked out; to the DUP they ran out, to republicans and to loyalists they attacked you. The SDLP supported it. Fianna Fáil did not.

“When we were in negotiations it was never the Anglo Irish Agreement, it was always the Downing Street Declaration and the subsequent framework document.

“For the historical record while I still have breath, that was the position,” he said.

Book launch

Mr Ahern was speaking at the launch of Albert Reynolds, Risk Taker for Peace by the former Fianna Fáil TD and minister, Conor Lenihan. He praised the book’s coverage of Mr Reynolds’ successful business career and said that experience helped the Longford politician modernise the post and telephone service, establishing Telecom Éireann (now Eircom) and An Post when he was minister for industry and commerce.

Mr Ahern said when he was first elected there were not enough telephones available for households. He said Mr Reynolds revolutionised the system.

“In a matter of a few years we moved from a position where telephones were just a nightmare to that issue just being gone,” he said.

“The reality was in that short period we moved from a country that was decades behind in telephones to modernising the entire infrastructure.”

He said it was 27 years since Mr Reynolds left office and the book gives due credit to his contribution in the opening phases of the peace process, saying he took political risks in opening talks with the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries.