Tension erupted during Anglo-Irish discussions
FROSTY relations between the UK and Ireland spilled over in an astonishingly heated meeting, between Secretary of State Roy Mason and Irish Foreign Minister Michael O'Kennedy.
On May 5, 1978, the two men met in Dublin for the latest in a series of Anglo-Irish discussions.
Key topics on the agenda were cross-border security, the IRA, the La Mon House Hotel bombing and the economy.
Tensions – only now made public – erupted amid accusations on both sides about their public conduct on matters regarding Northern Ireland and terrorism.
During talks, the Irish said the UK Government should come out and say the only basis for a lasting peace in Ulster would be within a united Ireland.
This was against a backdrop of continual assertions by nationalists, throughout 1978, that this was the only basis for a deal and calls for a British withdrawal – which even the Daily Mirror backed.
Mr Mason, meanwhile, accused Ireland of destabilising the Province with public “demands” for unity.
These Anglo-Irish discussions were supposed to be about better relations, but even before the meeting there was expectation of a difficult exchange.
A Northern Ireland Office paper was drafted by civil servants for Mr Mason on April 27, to brief him ahead of the talks.
It spoke of attempting to “defuse with as little fuss as possible” issues which were affecting the UK-Ireland relationship.
It was especially concerned with the Republic’s interest in Northern Ireland and it taking on any sort of formal or institutional angle.
Mr Mason was urged to say “we are prepared to tell an interested government (of another country) how we see the situation (in Ulster)”. But the lines must be clear and an arms length and informality maintained.
The questions of attempts to “arise afresh the question of Irish unity” were to be avoided by London officials.
When the meeting came, the minutes of May 5, show it was the Mr O’Kennedy who set the ball rolling for a tetchy discussion.
It reads that he immediately stated he “was very concerned, that without any notice at all to them (the Irish), the Secretary of State indicated that those responsible for La Mon might have come from the South; it had provoked a severe reaction in Dublin.”
Mr O’Kennedy believed there was an implicit suggestion of the Republic harbouring or supporting the terrorists.
But he said there “could no public or private apprehensions about their commitment against the IRA”. The Provisonals were as much an enemy of the Irish state and wanted to replace the government there, he noted.
Mr Mason responded with his own jibe, stating that there had been “irritants on both sides” and not just on the Dublin side.
He noted Irish Government speeches and interviews talking of the aim of Irish unity and that this had caused serious problems.
The Secretary of State also countered that he had not said the terrorists came from the South to carry out La Mon but that they may have fled there.
This was not good enough for Mr O’Kennedy who said “even to refer to it as a possibility caused a serious problem in the South”.
Mr Mason was sorry for this but then he hit back with complaints about Ireland’s delay in various extradition proceedings. The Irish said they were acting within European laws.
Mr O’Kennedy said there was a theme developing to suggest his country was “weak on terrorism”.
He added there had heard comments to this effect in the House of Commons and urged the British to get a grip or warned “the Irish would step in”, the minutes recorded.
The tit-for-tat continued, with Mr Mason accusing the Irish of undermining efforts to get a political settlement in the Province, when the Taoiseach Jack Lynch gave an interview and talked about the aspiration of a united Ireland (in January 1978).
The Official Unionists had been close to walking away from meetings, said Mr Mason – at a time when they had moved from “an intransigent position”.
Mr O’Kennedy said the unionists were just using the Taoiseach as an excuse.
Mr Mason did not agree and warned the Irish Government against further demands for Irish unity which would impact in the Province.
Mr O’Kennedy claimed “his government had not been and would not be responsible for any demands for Irish unity”.
He also said reference to an amnesty for terrorists, in the same interview, had been picked up wrong and “Mr Lynch was the last person to want to give succour to terrorists”.
However Mr O’Kennedy said “Irish unity was the only possible long-term basis for peace”.
He added, “his government was convinced that there could be no real move until the UK Government accepted this and said so”.
But the Irish also accepted that consent was crucial to any settlement and they wanted to see good British-Irish relations as a cornerstone to an agreement.
Mr Mason said the liberal use of the word consent, rather than unity, in speeches, would “minimise harm”.
On security, the minutes recorded the Irish as “a little sensitive” to any suggestion the border was their problem.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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