Madam, – There has been much comment recently in relation to the line that will be followed by the new British government towards the North.
While it is true to say that the British Labour Party has generally been more friendly to Ireland than the British Conservatives, it is worth noting that many of the major breakthroughs in the North over the past 40 years have come under Conservative administrations in London. It was under Edward Heath’s Conservative government that Unionist rule was abolished in 1972, and also that the Sunningdale Agreement was signed in 1973. Despite the many difficulties with Margaret Thatcher, it was her Conservative government that first gave the Irish government an official role in the North when she signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985.
John Major’s Conservative government began secret talks with the IRA in the early 1990s, and he went on to negotiate the Downing Street Declaration with Albert Reynolds in 1993. Also, in 1995, his government launched the Framework Document with Dublin, which laid down the basis for the Belfast Agreement. Therefore, it may be premature to get too worried about the new British government’s Northern policy. – Yours, etc,