Talk:Anglo-Irish Agreement

Thatcher
"Thatcher, who had previously been vociferously opposed to any "interference" by the Republic in Northern Ireland, had been frightened by the electoral success of Sinn Féin (at the expense of the SDLP) and changed her stance." - I suspect this a simplification. Thatcher appears to have had little respect (and certainly no love) for any of the mainstream NI politicians - her committment to the Union was of that theoretical kind, which didn't stand up to actually having to deal with the people involved. She appears to have been motivated by disinterest in the issue as much as anything. Plus I think she thought it would look good in American eyes.

Did Alliance support it?
Of the main parties in Northern Ireland, only the moderate nationalist SDLP supported the agreement.

I thought the Alliance Party also supported it, though not with the greatest enthusiasm - the literature I've seen from the by-elections suggests they were pro the Agreement. Timrollpickering 13:31, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * You're probably right, I forgot about the Alliance Party. Demiurge 15:48, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * Have amended the entry. Also the by-elections saw the Workers' Party get some of their best ever polls in Northern Ireland - not least because of the lack of competition! Does anyone know if they had a particular position on the Agreement? Timrollpickering 12:54, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Constitutional Challenge
''UUP politicians Christopher and Michael McGimpsey even brought a suit against the Irish government in the High Court of the Republic of Ireland arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland. (This argument was unusual coming from a unionist because of the traditional unionist opposition to these two articles.) The case failed in the High Court, and again on appeal to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ireland - it failed because the men failed to make a declaration of Irish citizenship and thus of locus standi.''

This is incorrect from my reading of the Supreme Court judgement. Although the Supreme Court had doubts about locus standi, it went ahead and made a judgement based on the substance of the argument. 193.1.160.132 11:35, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

yeah the case went ahead, they did lose it but it was on the grounds that articles 2 and 3 were deemed to be political aspirations of the state rather than any legally enumerated rights


 * McGimpsey v. Ireland [1990 IESC 3 (1st March, 1990)] Djegan 20:11, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Sinn Fein reaction
The article lacks of any direct reference to the Sinn Fein and Republican reaction to the Agreement.

DagosNavy 17:01, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Reactions
Would it not be clearer to split the 'reactions' section into an 'Irish' and a 'British' section?--Major Bonkers (talk) 12:42, 12 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Better to split it into sections for supporters (who came from both the UK and Eire, and across the sectarian divide), republican opposition (who were both British and from Eire, and included people like Jeremy Corbyn as well as Gerry Adams), and loyalist opposition. Merely dividing it into reactions from Eire and from the UK does not really tidy this section up, since both the UK and Eire included opponents and supporters, and the opponents opposed the agreement for different reasons (i.e., some because it left the border in place, others because they thought it brought an annexation of Northern Ireland by Eire closer). This has now been done. FOARP (talk) 08:31, 10 November 2015 (UTC)

Martinazo (talk) 23:57, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

"the IRA and Sinn Féin claimed that the concessions made by Great Britain were the result of its armed campaign"
"the IRA and Sinn Féin claimed that the concessions made by Great Britain were the result of its armed campaign" This statement suggests that Sinn Féin and the IRA are the same organization. I suggest a different wording that would make it clear that they are not: the IRA claimed that the concessions made by Great Britain were the result of its armed campaign and the leadership of Sinn Féin condemned the agreement for bolstering Partition Martinazo (talk) 23:54, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

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