The revelation came in confidential documents released as part of the 1990 State Archives. One document revealed Taoiseach Charles Haughey had directed senior civil servant Dermot Nally to ask the British Ambassador Nicholas Fenn to call to see him on September 20, 1990, over alarm in Dublin at remarks made by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Government felt the prime minister’s remarks somehow hinted there was Irish responsibility for what had happened.
Mrs Thatcher had launched a scathing reproach on the “evil” attacks by the IRA on her friend Ian Gow MP as well as retired Air Chief Marshal and former Gibraltar Governor Peter Terry.
Haughey rebuked British ambassador after Thatcher questioned Ireland’s will to defeat IRA
An Irish official relayed that ambassador Sir Nicholas Fenn explained Thatcher had been speaking with a “certain sense of exasperation”. By Press Association Sunday 27 Dec 2020, 5:02 PM Dec 27th 2020, 5:02 PM 35,576 Views 32 Comments
Charles Haughey and Margaret Thatcher in April 1990.
Image: DPA/PA Images
Image: DPA/PA Images
THE UK’S AMBASSADOR in Ireland received a governmental rebuke after then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher questioned the state’s commitment to defeating the IRA.
National archive papers revealed Taoiseach Charles Haughey ordered a senior official to make clear to the ambassador his displeasure at Thatcher’s remarks.
Far-sighted Irish officials realised a landmark statement by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Brooke, about Britain having no selfish economic or strategic interest in the province, offered a strategic opportunity to end 20 years of bloodshed.
Confidential papers released as part of the 1990 State Archive revealed Irish politicians, civil servants and academics recognised the statement as marking a critical change in British policy.
It transpired that the Brooke statement underpinned major elements of the subsequent Northern Ireland peace process.
Furthermore, a briefing paper stated that the overthrow of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a Conservative Party power struggle offered an opportunity for progress on a peace settlement.
Thatcher questioned Irelandâs will to defeat IRA, records reveal
the three IRA members who were shot dead in Gibraltar (left to right) Sean Savage, Mairead Farrell and Danny McCann. THE UK’s ambassador in Ireland received a governmental rebuke after Margaret Thatcher questioned the state’s commitment to defeating the IRA. National archive papers revealed Taoiseach Charles Haughey ordered a senior official to make clear to the ambassador his displeasure at Mrs Thatcher’s remarks. The diplomatic row unfolded in the wake of an IRA attack on Air Chief Marshall and former Governor of Gibraltar Sir Peter Terry and his wife Lady Betty Terry.