Tory party adviser ‘very struck’ by rapport between Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey
State papers: Official compared how British prime minister had ‘grabbed her handbag and stormed out’ of meeting with Belgian leader
John Bowman: 1989 a calm year in Anglo-Irish relations
State Papers: Haughey and Thatcher only held one hour of discussions in the year
Haughey told Thatcher that Ireland was financially ‘up against the wall’
State Papers 1987: Then taoiseach jokingly asked for loan of ‘£2bn or so’ from British PM
Smugness over Theresa May’s EU difficulties is misplaced
With a ‘bloody difficult woman’ negotiating Brexit, Ireland will need to play hardball too
Officials influenced Thatcher on Anglo-Irish Agreement
Former prime minister felt motherly towards Garret Fitzgerald, biography reveals
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