Michael Lillis
25 results

Ex-diplomats ‘always knew’ Britain intercepted Irish communications
- Irish News
- February 14, 2020, 02:27
Irish diplomats assumed the British government listened to all their communications with Dublin during the 1980s, former officials say. Speaking afte(...)

Britain has always struggled to take Ireland seriously, say Irish ex-diplomats
- Politics
- August 10, 2019, 01:01
Through years spent operating at the top of Anglo-Irish relations, Irish ex-diplomat Séan Ó hUigínn detected what he sees as a curious gap in British (...)

Ian Paisley wanted ‘to obtain arms’ from Israel
- Irish News
- December 30, 2017, 17:30
Ireland’s former ambassador to Britain Noel Dorr reported to Dublin on a curious conversation he had in June 1985 with the Israeli ambassador in Londo(...)

John Bowman: How Irish diplomats ‘dined for Ireland’
- Politics
- December 30, 2017, 02:30
During the negotiations which led to the historic Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher at Hillsborough in November (...)

‘Tough nuts’ Haughey and Thatcher get reacquainted as London says it’s business as usual
- Politics
- December 29, 2017, 00:05
1987 was an election year in both the Republic and in Britain: Charles Haughey returned to the Taoiseach’s office in March and Margaret Thatcher forme(...)

British proposed East German-style border for Ireland, files reveal
- Irish News
- December 29, 2017, 00:01
British officials raised the prospect of erecting a physical border along the entire frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic 30 year ago, d(...)

Professor Ronan Fanning: A giant of Irish historiography
- Irish News
- January 18, 2017, 19:58
The death of Ronan Fanning, a member of the Royal Irish Academy, professor emeritus of Modern History at University College Dublin and former presiden(...)

‘To leave Sinn Féin is to leave the IRA,’ Adams told ardfheis
- Politics
- December 30, 2016, 00:01
The stage-management skills of Gerry Adams were remarked on in a Department of Foreign Affairs assessment of Sinn Féin’s decision to end the policy of(...)

Thatcher was a chameleon on Ireland even after Anglo-Irish Agreement
- Politics
- December 30, 2016, 00:00
Margaret Thatcher was complicated about Ireland. This was scarcely surprising. So many of her associations with Ireland had been negative: her falling(...)

Peter Barry: the man who helped cajole the Iron Lady into Anglo-Irish Agreement
- Politics
- August 27, 2016, 01:00
Peter Barry, who died on Friday, aged 88, had a long career in politics but will be chiefly remembered for his contribution to the Anglo-Irish Agreeme(...)