A former Fianna Fáil minister of state and adviser to a number of taoisigh has rejected a claim by the Sinn Féin leader that successive governments failed to press for repeal of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Dr Martin Mansergh said Gerry Adams’s assertion on the RTÉ Radio programme This Week that the governments of that time refused to push or promote the repeal of the Act, partitioning Ireland, was at complete variance with the record.
Dr Mansergh said former taoiseach Albert Reynolds had always said the Government of Ireland Act would have to be on the table with Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. “The demand, which was acceded to, was maintained right up to the Good Friday agreement and was never taken off the agenda,” Dr Mansergh added.
