The British seem to have never understood either Irish unionism or Irish nationalism

(The article can be read here: ‘UK will always placate Irish nationalism because for them Northern Ireland has become place that dare not speak its name’

Margaret Thatcher brought Northern Ireland to the brink of an all-out civil war in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 and that is why I opposed it in the south along with Mary Robinson and Conor Cruise O’Brien.

I was in correspondence with Harold McCusker at that time and I felt the depth of his personal anguish and despair.

For me the tragedy of his life and death summed up the tragedy of Ulster and the tragedy of unionism.

When he wrote to me thanking me for my support my wife had to write back to tell him that I myself had already been broken by speaking out.

The British seem to have never understood either Irish unionism or Irish nationalism and in effect have simply perpetuated an ongoing tragedy.

We all have to change and we all must find a new respect for one another. But the incompetence and dishonesty of the Tory party in particular over many years has made it all but impossible for those of us living on this island.

For my own part I think that the English are now better placed than the British to promote friendship and peace in Ireland among the Irish of all political persuasions.

Dr Gerald Morgan. Leader English Parliamentary Party 2001, Dublin

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