Sunningdale : the search for peace in Northern Ireland / Noel Dorr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dorr, Noel, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Coalition governments--Northern Ireland.

Coalition governments.

Peace-building--Northern Ireland--History--20th century.

Peace-building.

Conflict management--Political aspects--Northern Ireland--History--20th century.

Conflict management.

Conflict management--Political aspects.

History.

Northern Ireland--Politics and government--1968-1998.

Northern Ireland.

Politics and government.

Great Britain--Foreign relations--Ireland.

Great Britain.

International relations.

Ireland.

Ireland--Foreign relations--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

vi, 478 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 2017.

Summary:

In this book a former Irish diplomat looks at British-Irish relations in the years leading up to Sunningdale, at the Conference itself and at some of the reasons why this initiative, born in hope, did not succeed. The book includes the author's own contemporaneous notes of the negotiations, which have not previously been published. At Sunningdale in December 1973, leaders of the two governments and of the unionist and nationalist communities reached a settlement aimed at bringing peace to Northern Ireland. The Irish government, for the first time, declared that there could be no change in the status of Northern Ireland until a majority of the people of the area desired it; the British government declared that if the majority indicated a wish to become part of a united Ireland they would support that wish; and all the participants agreed on new political institutions to promote cooperation and reconciliation within Northern Ireland and between both parts of the island. Sunningdale did not succeed in its immediate objective of achieving peace, and there were still difficulties at times in Anglo-Irish relations. But the precedent set for close cooperation between the two governments in relation to Northern Ireland, and many of the concepts developed at that time, were to prove of great importance to subsequent efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict, up to and including the peace achieved under the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement of 1998.-- Provided by Publisher.

Contents:

1 History and its consequences 10

2 An 'internal situation' 33

3 Briefing the media 52

4 Jack Lynch, 1969-70 63

5 Summit at Chequers, 1971 81

6 Chequers II 98

7 Bloody Sunday 121

8 Direct rule 131

9 How policy is formed 141

10 The Green Paper 160

11 A Council of Ireland? 176

12 The White Paper 199

13 The new Irish government responds 217

14 Deciding on proposals 237

15 Summer and Autumn 1973 251

16 Arrangements for the conference 272

17 The Sunningdale conference 281

18 The Sunningdale Communiqué 301

19 How Sunningdale was received 323

20 The end of the Agreement 347

21 Conclusion: Slow learners? 374.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 460-466) and index.

ISBN:

1908997648

9781908997647

OCLC:

990033307