Margaret Thatcher along with the Irish Taoiseachs met regularly as they were concerned about the continuing IRA violence. In 1984 Mrs. Thatcher was nearly killed by an IRA bomb.
Anglo-Irish Agreement
In 1985 the Anglo-Irish agreement was agreed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald. Their would be cross-border co-operation on security, legal and political issues they set up a civil service both sides of the border. The British Government accepted their maybe a united Ireland. The Irish government also accepted the existence of partition. This approach was well received in most of mainland Britain and the republic. In Northern Ireland the alliance and SDLP’s felt it had possibilities. Sinn Fein rejected it as well as it confirmed the partition of Ireland. The Unionists united in outrage and again tried to make the British government drop the approach in every constitutional protests possible some even resulting to clashes between paramilitaries they even resigned their 15 seats but this time Margaret Thatcher did not back down and it showed the Unionists their tactics were not going to work again the main reason being that the British people did not have sympathy for the unionist view. It did not stop the violence and therefore killings still were on going one instance of this was in 1988 when 8 British soldiers were killed by an IRA land mine. Garrett Fitzgerald hoped this would be a step to a united Ireland. But there is some evidence it did reduce violence. The main effect was the boost of SDLP’s support and the reduce of Sinn Fein this was manly as the SDLP’s were willing to accept the agreement and develop on it when Sinn Fein would not and rejected it as they were not willing to compromise in any way. The only help they were given by the previous government was that the Nationalists already accepted their views but the previous government did not help with the Unionists as they did not accept the governments view and they were willing to strike against them. They help the following government by showing them they will not back down if they strike against their views so this made it easier. It also helped as it also gave them a step forward to combating the IRA.
The late 1980s and the early 1990s saw great violence as loyalists and republicans matched the amount of killings carried out. The population of Northern Ireland started to long for peace and there were many peace rallies with many followers. Catholics and Protestants started to vote for peaceful methods in the SDLP’s with Sinn Fein support falling.
Major Government
In 1993 Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach Albert Reynolds introduced the Downing Street Declaration which was to respect all traditions in Northern Ireland. It only allowed parties which rejected violence as there was a long for peace in Northern Ireland and this would reduce the parties’ support of violent methods. The British government stated that they had no interest in the economic side of Northern Ireland but only in the well being of the population. They also said that Irish Unity was possible but only with the consent of the majority of Northern Ireland which the Irish government accepted. On 13 October 1994 the IRA declared a complete ceasefire and this showed the government was effective as their killings stopped for the time being and the unionist paramilitaries also declared a ceasefire soon after. Christmas of 1994 being the most peaceful for years this was very good for the view of the government as they brought peace. The joint frame work document was introduced after the ceasefires this set a plan for peace talks. 1995 saw the lowest death toll in the troubles and also showed the people of Ireland that they could bring peace which shows how effective the government is. In 1996 the Mitchell Principles were set out which planned decommissioning of weapons. Sinn Fein agreed this principle which shows they are willing to cooperate with the government and is a positive. The IRA did not and refused to hand over arms. In result Major called an election to see the support of the paramilitaries. Nationalists were outraged as this would delay the peace process and the IRA withdrew their ceasefire set off two bombs in England one in the London dockland and another in Manchester. The loyalist paramilitary did not and shows that they want peace. It was less effective as the paramilitaries did not stop fighting when they first got the Downing Street Declaration. The Mitchell Principles were also rejected by the IRA and showed they were not as going to cooperate as easy. They were helped by the previous government by showing them they will not back down if they strike against their views so this made it easier and helped as they had more support for non violent methods and therefore fewer killings. It also gave them a step forward to combating the IRA. They helped the following government as the loyalist paramilitaries had created a ceasefire and stopped those killing people. But the IRA was still killing people and made it harded but they had stopped fighting once so they will not be reluctant to do it again.
Blair Government
In 1997 Blair came to power he appointed Mo Mowlam Northern Ireland secretary for her negotiation skills to keep and create peace. The IRA violence continued until July were they declared a new ceasefire. This allowed Sinn Fein to take part in the peace process once again and also created peace which a major effectiveness of the government. In 1998 The Good Friday agreement was introduced this would be a Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 and any decisions would have to have the consent of the two communities. There would also be an early release of the paramilitary prisoners. Mo Mowlam and David Trimble visited loyalist prisoners and persuaded them not to return to violent methods. It was agreed by all parties and Northern and Southern Ireland and finally brought peace to Ireland which shows the effectiveness of the government. Apart from splinter cells in the paramilitaries which did not accept it and carried out shootings and bombings but with constant talks with Blair they started to accept it. It was less effective as loyalist prisoners came close to withdrawing support the peace process. They were helped by the previous government because the loyalist paramilitaries had created a ceasefire and stopped those killing people. But Major did not stop the IRA killing people and made it harded but they had stopped fighting once so they will not be so reluctant to do it again.
Conclusion
I feel the Major government was the most effective because they were the government who first gained the ceasefire from both the paramilitaries and stopped most of the violence. And peace was the most needed factor to be stopped in Northern Ireland. I also feel that he finally got the two communities to reason with each other rather than just using violent methods to resolve disputes.
I feel that the Power Sharing government was the worst as they only strengthen relations with the nationalists and not the unionist and nothing else. So they did not really have in impact on peace in Northern Ireland or an impact on the way it was run. It also did not bring the two communities any closer