Richard Ryan
30 results

Explainer: Is winning a seat on UN Security Council a big deal for Ireland?
- Politics
- June 18, 2020, 10:58
Why is winning a seat on the United Nations Security Council a big deal? The 15-member UN Security Council is the most powerful body in the UN system(...)

State papers: British archives show ‘other side’ of diplomatic jousting on North
- Politics
- December 30, 2019, 01:14
Presumably the Anglo-Irish desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs was a clearing house for gossip, insights and even some kites, leaks and scoops t(...)

Tory party adviser ‘very struck’ by rapport between Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey
- Politics
- December 28, 2019, 01:47
Margaret Thatcher felt “quite natural” with Charlie Haughey and there was “a lot to be played for between them”, a senior Conservative adviser told an(...)

John Bowman: 1989 a calm year in Anglo-Irish relations
- Politics
- December 28, 2019, 00:57
It was not a high-profile year in Anglo-Irish relations. Everything seemed becalmed in 1989. Yet Charles Haughey was constantly being asked questions (...)

British government feared ‘tabloid scandal’ if it released Birmingham Six
- Politics
- December 28, 2019, 00:02
The British government was reluctant to release the Birmingham Six because of pressure from Tory hardliners and concerns it would cause a “scandal” in(...)

Libya dismissed claims of IRA link as ‘imperialist’ conspiracy
- Politics
- December 29, 2018, 15:03
An Irish diplomat who went to Tripoli in the wake of the discovery of a huge arsenal of Libyan arms destined for the IRA was met with claims that Irel(...)

Mayhew was criticised by both sides over shoot-to-kill decision
- Politics
- December 29, 2018, 02:58
Among the most controversial politicians of 1988 was then British attorney general Patrick Mayhew. On January 20th that year, Irish diplomat Richard R(...)

Charlie Haughey: A 'dreadful person’ but a ‘good politician’
- Politics
- December 29, 2018, 02:29
Charles Haughey was a “dreadful person” who “seized every opportunity to get under the Border”, an influential Tory backbencher fumed at an Irish dipl(...)

Northern Ireland leaders no match for Dublin, Thatcher aide said
- Politics
- December 29, 2018, 02:20
Northern Ireland was at its “greatest moment of peril” because its political leaders were no match for the Dublin government, a close personal friend (...)

Declassified files help to correct ‘distorting’ narrative of Thatcher’s memoirs
- Politics
- December 29, 2018, 02:14
That the official records from the Department of the Taoiseach and of Foreign Affairs for 1988 are becoming available only now after 30 years leaves t(...)