New Ireland Forum

The New Ireland Forum was a forum in 1983–1984 at which Irish nationalist political parties discussed potential political developments that might alleviate the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Forum was established by Garret FitzGerald, then Taoiseach, under the influence of John Hume, for "consultations on the manner in which lasting peace and stability can be achieved in a new Ireland through the democratic process".^[1][2] The Forum was initially dismissed, by Unionists, Sinn Féin, and others, as a nationalist talking-shop.^[3] The Forum's report, published on 2 May 1984, listed three possible alternative structures: a unitary state, a federal/confederal state, and joint British/Irish authority. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, dismissed the three alternatives one by one at a press conference, each time saying, "that is out", in a response that became known as the "out, out, out" speech. However, Garret Fitzgerald, who described the Forum's report as "an agenda not a blueprint",^[4] valued it as establishing a nationalist consensus from which the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement could be framed.

Background

In the aftermath of the 1981 hunger strikes, "physical force Irish republicanism" represented by Provisional Sinn Féin was gaining support in Northern Ireland at the expense of the "constitutional nationalism" represented by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Garret FitzGerald became Taoiseach after the Republic's 1981 general election and announced a "constitutional crusade", including a reframing of the state's attitude to Northern Ireland.^[5] He lost power quickly but regained it in the November 1982 election. Before the previous month's election to the reconstituted Northern Ireland Assembly, John Hume had proposed a "Council for a New Ireland" in the SDLP manifesto.^[6] Fitzgerald persuaded Hume to accept a Forum open to non-nationalist parties, though in the event only nationalist parties joined.^[7] The SDLP's participation persuaded Fianna Fáil to join. The forum was open to "all democratic parties which reject violence and which have members elected or appointed to either House of the Oireachtas or the Northern Ireland Assembly". From the Assembly, only the SDLP participated; Sinn Féin were excluded, and the Alliance Party and Unionist parties stayed away.^[8] From the Oireachtas, the three main parties —Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party— joined. Independent TDs and Senators were not eligible for membership. The SDLP was abstentionist in the Unionist-dominated Northern Ireland Assembly, which meant its representatives were able to devote more time to the Forum.^[8] Speaking in the House of Commons debate on the Forum report on 2 July 1984, Hume explained the impetus for the Forum and why the SDLP wasn't participating in the Assembly:

...under the Conservative Government of 1974 we accepted the terms laid down and negotiated with the Unionist parties and the British Government. We accepted power sharing and went into the Assembly. We were then kicked out following the Ulster Workers Council strike. When the Labour Government invited us to the Northern Ireland Convention, we again accepted the terms laid down by this House and were willing to negotiate, but again the Unionists said that in no circumstances were they prepared to share power. In 1979, when the right hon. Member for Spelthorne (Sir H. Atkins) was Secretary of State, we again accepted the terms and negotiations, but again the Unionists refused to share power. When the present Secretary of State announced his initiative, before the elections even took place both the Unionist parties made it clear that there were no circumstances in which they were prepared to share power, so the whole purpose of the Assembly was null and void before it began. We were not prepared to put the people of Northern Ireland through another charade.^[9]

The Workers' Party decided not to become members of the Forum. The Democratic Socialist Party was ineligible as its sole TD, Jim Kemmy, had lost his seat in the November 1982 election. These two parties organised a separate "alternative Forum" with the Alliance Party, the Irish Independence Party, and others.^[10]

Members

There were 27 members and fourteen alternates.

Party	Fianna Fáil	Fine Gael	Labour	SDLP
Leader	Charles Haughey	Garret FitzGerald	Dick Spring	John Hume
Members	David Andrews Gerry Collins Eileen Lemass Brian Lenihan Ray MacSharry Rory O'Hanlon Jim Tunney John Wilson	Peter Barry Myra Barry James Dooge Paddy Harte John Kelly Enda Kenny Maurice Manning	Frank Cluskey Stephen McGonagle Frank Prendergast Mervyn Taylor	Austin Currie Joe Hendron Eddie McGrady Seamus Mallon
Alternates	Paudge Brennan Jackie Fahey Jimmy Leonard John O'Leary	David Molony Nora Owen Ivan Yates	Eileen Desmond Mary Robinson	Sean Farren Frank Feely Hugh Logue Paddy O'Donoghue Paschal O'Hare
Secretary	Veronica Guerin[11]	John Fanagan	Diarmaid McGuinness	Denis Haughey

Operation

Colm Ó hEocha was appointed chairman of the Forum. It had a secretariat staff of 17, seconded from the Irish Civil Service; the salary of the secretary of each of the four participating parties was also paid from the Department of the Taoiseach.^[12]

The first session was held in Dublin Castle on 30 May 1983 and the final session on 9 February 1984. There were 11 public sessions, 28 private ones, and visits to Northern Ireland in September 1983 and Great Britain in January 1984.^[13] The forum's steering group, comprising the chairman and the four party leaders, met 56 times in total.

Submissions

Submissions were invited in press advertisements; 317 were received, and 31 submitting groups and individuals were invited to make oral presentations to the forum.

Presenter	Session	Notes
Charles Carter	21 September 1983
Louden Ryan	21 September 1983	Professor of industrial economics at Trinity College Dublin, executive at Bank of Ireland.[14]
Seán MacBride	4 October 1983
Brian Lennon	4 October 1983	Jesuit priest based in Northern Ireland.[15]
David Harkness	4 October 1983	Professor of history at Queen's University Belfast.[16]
Hugh Munro	4 October 1983	Writer
Robin Glendinning	5 October 1983	Northern Irish playwright[17]
John Robb	5 October 1983	Northern Irish surgeon, member of Seanad Éireann
Michael McKeown	5 October 1983	Teacher, writer, and founder member of National Unity and the National Democratic Party.[18]
John Biggs-Davison	5 October 1983
Northern Ireland Cross-Community Professional Group	6 October 1983
Desmond Fennell	6 October 1983
Roy Johnston	11 October 1983
Labhrás Ó Murchú	11 October 1983	Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Eoghan Ó Néill	11 October 1983	Director of Comhdáil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, umbrella-group for Irish-language organisations.[19]^[page needed]
Micheál Ó Loingsigh	11 October 1983	Irish Sovereignty Movement
Sydney Callaghan	20 October 1983	Methodist Church in Ireland minister from Belfast
William T. McDowell	3 November 1983	Synod of Dublin, Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Federalism and Peace Movement	3 November 1983	Michael O'Flanagan, Michael O'Mahony
Women's Law and Research Group	17 November 1983	Belfast feminist group campaigning for reform of divorce law.[20] Clare Clark and Eileen Evason.[21]
Samuel James Park	17 November 1983	Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.[21]
Church of Ireland	21 November 1983
Richard Kearney and Bernard Cullen	8 December 1983	Professors of philosophy.[22]
George Gordon Dallas	8 December 1983	Belfast Presbyterian physician, representing an ecumenical bible study group.[23]
Irish Information Partnership	8 December 1983	London-based group collating statistics relating to the Troubles; David Roche and Brian Gallagher
Sylvia Meehan	19 January 1984	Chair of the Republic's Employment Equality Agency[24]
Christopher McGimpsey and Michael McGimpsey	19 January 1984	Members of the Ulster Unionist Party
Clive Soley	19 January 1984	British Labour Party MP
Anthony Orr	19 January 1984	Spokesman for a Belfast group of unionist community workers,[25] which submitted papers through the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.[26]
Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference	9 February 1984

Publications

Separately from its final report, the forum published three reports on the economic cost of Partition of Ireland since 1920, and of the Troubles since 1969; it also commissioned reports from external consultants and experts on the cost and logistics of a united Ireland.^[27]

Report

The Forum published its report on 2 May 1984. Its historical treatment heavily criticised the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and the alleged short-term thinking of successive British governments' policy on Northern Ireland. It estimated the high financial cost of the Troubles since 1968, while also acknowledging the high cost of implementing any new political arrangements. It outlined three possible alternative structures for a "new Ireland":

• a "unitary state", i.e. a 32-county Ireland
• a "federal/confederal state" comprising the current states of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
• or "joint authority" meaning that the British and Irish governments would have equal responsibility for the administration of Northern Ireland; advocated by Richard Kearney and Bernard Cullen.^[28]

At Charles Haughey's insistence, the unitary state was presented as the most desirable option,^[29][30] which Fitzgerald later rued as "ritual obeisance".^[31]

Unionist historian Graham Walker writes, "The Forum Report did reflect a more considered appreciation of the Unionists' distinctiveness and their attachment to the Union, but it was also replete with time-worn assumptions and stereotypes, and a partisan historical narrative."^[32]

Response

Before the Forum's report was issued, the Ulster Unionist Party presented a discussion paper of its own entitled Devolution and the Northern Ireland Assembly: The Way Forward (usually called The Way Forward). This described the Forum thus:^[33]

The SDLP and those political parties in the Republic of Ireland presently participating in the New Ireland Forum have all publicly declared their support for the principle that there can be no change in the constitutional status of the territory of Northern Ireland as an integral part of the United Kingdom without the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. ... British Governments give a formal written guarantee to this principle ... If constitutional nationalists accept the principle of consent, it is difficult to see, in logical terms, why some insist that the British Government should withdraw its guarantee of that self same principle. The answer to this apparent inconsistency lies in the long term political strategy of those who seek a United Ireland. ... Constitutional nationalists appear to behave upon the basis that every form of pressure, short of direct force, is valid to obtain unionist consent. .... The Forum for a New Ireland is an integral part of this strategy. Not only is it a component in the ongoing pressure for consent by producing a charter of republican reasonableness, it is also necessary for it to set up a blueprint for political structures that would, ostensibly, accommodate unionists in a way that the Republic has never been able to do in the past, and which would have been inconsistent with the State's ethos and existing constitution. It now appears at least probable that this entire strategy is about to fail.

The McGimpsey brothers, members of the Ulster Unionist Party, felt the Forum's report totally ignored their contribution.^[34]

On 2 July 1984, Jim Prior, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland commented on the Forum's report in the House of Commons:^[35]

Most people recognise that parts of it were disappointing and unacceptable to the British Government or British people. However, I recognise that there was positive value in its serious examination of nationalist aspirations, its emphasis on the importance of consent, its unequivocal condemnation of violence, its attempt to understand the Unionist identity and its openness to discuss other views.

In October 1984, in a Seanad debate on the Forum's report, Mary Robinson regretted that "the range of contributors invited to make oral presentations to the Forum was too narrow", and remarked that "witnessing the Catholic Bishops and their representatives being questioned by politicians at the Forum may have marked a modest beginning to a healthy separation of Church and State in Ireland."^[36] She endorsed the view of political scientists Kevin Boyle and Tom Hadden, who stated:^[37]

The Report of the New Ireland Forum has been widely welcomed as the most positive contribution to solving the Northern Ireland problem for some years. Yet, it is equally widely recognised that the Report's prescriptions are totally unrealistic and can only be pursued, if at all, in ways which are inconsistent with the principles it asserts.

Oliver MacDonagh identified in the report three new developments for Irish nationalism: an unequivocal rejection of not only violence but "even psychological coercion"; an argument for unity based on "basic common interests of North and South" rather than "the horrid rhetoric of rights and righteousness"; and an acknowledgement that "the Ulster Unionist identity was both fundamentally different and a permanent condition".^[38]

On 19 November 1984, at a press conference at 12 Downing Street after a British–Irish summit in Chequers, UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher dismissed the report's proposals:^[39]

I have made it quite clear ... that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out. That is a derogation from sovereignty. We made that quite clear when the Report was published. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. She is part of the United Kingdom because that is the wish of the majority of her citizens. The majority wish to stay part of the United Kingdom.

This became known as the "out, out, out" speech.^[40][41]

Effects

Lord Kilbrandon established a committee that produced an unofficial report attempting to reconcile elements of the Forum report and The Way Forward. This report informed the British government's view leading up to the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985.^[42] Richard Sinnott suggests the Forum report gave Fitzgerald a mandate in the negotiations that produced the Agreement.^[43]

Charles Haughey was criticised in the aftermath of the Forum Report's publication for appearing to put a more traditionalist interpretation of its conclusions than other parties. This eventually came to a head when Fianna Fáil, then in opposition party, opposed the 1985 Agreement as incompatible with the Forum's conclusions, while the other three Forum parties supported the Agreement.^[44]

The SDLP's view of the "National Question" became the default position of Irish political parties from then and through the Northern Ireland peace process.^[45] The SDLP's loss of ground to Sinn Féin in the 1985 local elections in Northern Ireland was attributed in part to the "out, out, out" response to the Forum it had championed.^[46] Journalist Brian Feeney suggests that Sinn Féin's "active abstention", where those elected in the 1982 Assembly elections acted as local spokespeople in the media, was more effective than the SDLP's policy of sending its representatives to the Dublin forum.^[47]

The Forum has been seen retrospectively as a first acknowledgement by the political parties in the Republic of the need to engage with Ulster unionism and "North-South relationships"^[48] rather than ignoring them in favour of the "East-West" relationship with the British government in London. Dermot Keogh called it "one of the most important intellectual exercises in self-definition since the foundation of the state."^[49] On the other hand, it has been seen to have led indirectly to a recognition by the British government of the need to include the Republic in the political process: Stephen Collins has said that Irish anger at Thatcher's "out, out, out" speech caused her to soften her tone in future negotiations, which made possible the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.^[50]

The relatively non-partisan approach of the forum influenced the National Forum on Europe in 2001 to address Ireland and the European Union.^[51]

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the key stage in the Northern Ireland peace process, provides for a united Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland agree; it does not provide specifics of the process or settlement. Irish jurist Richard Humphreys in a 2009 book suggests that the New Ireland Forum would provide a model for "nationalist Ireland negotiating and agreeing, so far as possible, the kind of unity that would be put to the people in [...] a referendum".^[52] After the 2016 UK vote to leave the EU renewed Irish politicians' consideration of a united Ireland, a 2017 Oireachtas committee report endorsed Humphreys' call for what it termed a "New Ireland Forum 2".^[53][54]

See also

• Irish Convention (1917–18)
• Forum for Peace and Reconciliation (1994–2003)
• Northern Ireland Forum (1996–98)
• Belfast Agreement 1998

References

Sources

• Bloomfield, Ken (2007). A tragedy of errors: the government and misgovernment of Northern Ireland. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-064-5. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
• "New Ireland Forum". Ireland Today. Dublin: Department of Foreign Affairs. 1984. OL 17067685M.
• Davy Kelleher McCarthy Ltd.; Gibson, Norman; McAleese, Dermot (1984). The macroeconomic consequences of integrated economic policy, planning and co-ordination in Ireland (PDF). Official publications. Vol. Pl.2359. Dublin: Stationery Office. OCLC 13122244.
• New Ireland Forum (2 May 1984). "Report". Conflict Archive on the Internet.

Citations

1. Davy Kelleher McCarthy Ltd (1984) p.3
2. Fitzgerald, Garrrett (11 May 1983). "Questions. Oral Answers. – British Policy on Northern Ireland". Dáil Éireann debates. Oireachtas. pp. Vol.342 No.5 p.5 c.907. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
3. Mitchell, Thomas G. (2002). Indispensable traitors: liberal parties in settler conflicts. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-313-31774-3. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
4. "Toasts of the President and Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald of Ireland at a Dinner Honoring the President in Dublin". Ronald Reagan Library. 3 June 1984. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
5. Bew, Paul (2007). Ireland: the politics of enmity, 1789–2006. Oxford University Press. p. 534. ISBN 978-0-19-820555-5. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
6. Mitchell, George John (2000). Making Peace. University of California Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-520-22523-7. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
7. FitzGerald, Garrett (1993). "The origins and rationale of the 1985 agreement". In Keogh, Dermot; Haltzel, Michael H. (eds.). Northern Ireland and the politics of reconciliation. Cambridge University Press. pp. 194–5. ISBN 978-0-521-45933-4. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
8. Penniman, Howard Rae; Farrell, Brian; Research, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy (1 June 1987). Ireland at the polls, 1981, 1982, and 1987: a study of four general elections. Duke University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-8223-0786-0. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010. {{cite book}}: |first3= has generic name (help)
9. John Hume, MP (2 July 1984). "John Hume, 2 July 1984". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons.
10. Keatinge, Patrick (1985). "Ireland's Foreign Relations in 1984". Irish Studies in International Affairs. 2 (1). Royal Irish Academy: 163–179. JSTOR 30001739.
11. Murdoch, Alan (27 June 1996). "Obituary: Veronica Guerin". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
12. "Questions. Oral Answers. – New Ireland Forum". Dáil Debates. 29 February 1984. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012.
13. Wolff, Stefan (January 2004). Disputed Territories: The Transnational Dynamics of Ethnic Conflict Settlement. Berghahn Books. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-57181-657-3. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
14. Ross, Shane (16 July 2006). "Professor Louden Ryan". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
15. Lennon, Brian (22 June 2010). "Saville on Bloody Sunday: From the Past to the Future?". Thinking Faith. British Jesuits. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
16. "Doc. 11919: History teaching in conflict and post-conflict areas". Committee on Culture, Science and Education. Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
17. "Robin Glendinning". Irish Playography. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
18. "About Michael McKeown". Victims, Survivors and Commemoration. CAIN. 21 October 2009. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
19. "New Ireland Forum", Ireland Today
20. Connolly, Linda (Autumn 1999). "Feminist politics and the peace process". Capital & Class. 23 (3): 145–159. doi:10.1177/030981689906900109. S2CID 145574542.
21. "New Ireland Forum", Ireland Today, p.17
22. "Professor Bernard Cullen". School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy. Queen's University Belfast. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
23. O'Halloran, Clare (1987). Partition and the limits of Irish nationalism: an ideology under stress. Humanities Press International. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-391-03502-7.
24. "Speakers". SPARC/CAP Annual Conference 2010. Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre – Trinity College Dublin. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
25. Burgess, Michael (1986). Federalism and federation in Western Europe. Croom Helm. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-7099-3955-9.
26. "New Ireland Forum", Ireland Today, p.70
27. Davy Kelleher McCarthy Ltd (1984) p.6
28. Kearney, Richard (1997). Postnationalist Ireland: politics, culture, philosophy. Psychology Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-415-11503-2. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
29. Bloomfield (2007), p.57
30. Stevenson, Garth (2006). Parallel paths: the development of nationalism in Ireland and Quebec. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-7735-3029-4. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
31. Bloomfield (2007), p.147
32. Walker, Graham (2004). A history of the Ulster Unionist Party: Protest, pragmatism and pessimism. Manchester University Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-7190-6109-7. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
33. Ulster Unionist Assembly Party's Report Committee (1984). "Devolution and the Northern Ireland Assembly, The Way Forward". CAIN. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
34. Mitchell, Thomas G. (2000). Native vs. settler: ethnic conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-313-31357-8. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
35. "New Ireland Forum". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 63. HC. 2 July 1984. col. 23–106.
36. "Seanad debates Vol.105 No.12 p.5 cc.1383–4". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
37. Boyle, Kevin; Tom Hadden (October 1984). "How to Read the New Ireland Forum Report". The Political Quarterly. 44 (4): 402–417. doi:10.1111/j.1467-923X.1984.tb02618.x.
38. MacDonagh, Oliver (1985). "What Was New in the New Ireland Forum?". The Crane Bag. 9 (2: Irish Ideologies). Richard Kearney: 166–170: 169–170. JSTOR 30059840.
39. "Press Conference following Anglo-Irish Summit ("out ... out ... out")". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
40. Coogan, Tim Pat (5 January 2002). The troubles: Ireland's ordeal, 1966–1996, and the search for peace. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-312-29418-2. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
41. Bloomfield (2007), p.218
42. Cochrane, Feargal (2001). Unionist politics and the politics of Unionism since the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Cork University Press. pp. 8–12. ISBN 978-1-85918-259-8. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
43. Sinnott, Richard (1995). Irish voters decide: voting behaviour in elections and referendums since 1918. Manchester University Press ND. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7190-4037-5. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
44. O'Donnell, Catherine (2007). Fianna Fáil, Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland troubles, 1968–2005. Irish Academic Press. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-0-7165-3360-3. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
45. Hayward, Katy; O'Donnell, Catherine (30 November 2010). Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution. Taylor & Francis. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-56628-5. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
46. Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2000). Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations: parties, groups and movements of the 20th century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
47. Feeney, Brian (2002). Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years. O'Brien Press. pp. 316–317. ISBN 978-0-86278-770-7.
48. Hennessey, Thomas (26 June 2001). The Northern Ireland peace process: ending the troubles?. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 23–4. ISBN 978-0-312-23949-7. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
49. Keogh, Dermot (29 March 1989). "Catholicism and the formation of the modern Irish society". Irishness in a changing society. Princess Grace Irish Library. Vol. 2. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-389-20857-0. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
50. Stephen Collins (9 April 2013). "Thatcher did more for Ireland than other UK leaders". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
51. Holmes, Michael (2005). Ireland and the European Union: Nice, enlargement and the future of Europe. Manchester University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-7190-7173-7. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
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53. Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement (August 2017). "4.14 Road map: New Ireland Forum 2" (PDF). Brexit and the Future of Ireland Uniting Ireland & Its People in Peace & Prosperity. Oireachtas. pp. 331–333. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
54. Young, Connla (2 August 2017). "Call for New Ireland Forum 2 to be set up". The Irish News. Retrieved 2 August 2017.

External links

• NAI Records on CAIN; National Archives of Ireland records on Conflict Archive on the Internet; those from 1983 to 1984 include some relating to the New Ireland Forum