The Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher at Hillsborough 25 years ago today was one of the most significant developments in British-Irish relations since the 1920s. The British government accepted the right of the Irish government to offer “views and proposals” in relation to the governance of Northern Ireland for so long as direct rule continued. The Northern secretary and Irish ministers met regularly in a new Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and a joint secretariat in Belfast handled day-to-day exchanges. This gave practical effect for the first time to the “Irish dimension”.
The Irish government was still constrained at the time by Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution from recognising Northern Ireland’s status within the UK. But it went further than ever before to reassure unionists. Drawing on principles from the 1984 New Ireland Forum report, it committed itself in an international agreement for the first time to the principle that any future change in the status of Northern Ireland would require the consent of a majority in that area.
The agreement came at the end of a bleak period in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. The deaths which ensued from the handling of the hunger strikes had led to deep alienation on the part of the minority community. Violence was at a high level, and Mrs Thatcher was dubious about the possibility of any new initiative. Her main concern was better cross-Border security co-operation. But the agreement she signed on November 15th, 1985, went far beyond this.
At its heart were two ideas: an internal settlement could not be stable, and security issues could not be dealt with in isolation. What was needed was a broader approach which would shrink community support for violence by ending alienation and redressing minority grievances, while allowing them to pursue their legitimate aspirations through peaceful means. Thus, the agreement covered issues such as legal matters, the administration of justice, human rights, flags and emblems and relations between the security forces and the community.
The agreement was deeply resented by unionists and rejected by republicans and by the Opposition in the Dáil; and it did not end violence in Northern Ireland. But it proved of historic importance. It established a basis on which the two governments developed mutual trust and co-operation to a wholly new level; it helped to change the situation of the minority community in Northern Ireland for the better; and led to improved cross-Border co-operation, including co-operation on security issues.
Perhaps the agreement’s most significant consequence, however, as we can now see, was that it stimulated parties on opposite sides, who had vehemently opposed it but could not bring it down, to new thinking about a better way forward. It helped over time to open the way to the peace process and eventually to the more comprehensive settlement which is now in place. The Belfast Agreement could not have happened without the Anglo-Irish Agreement 25 years ago.