A former Northern Ireland secretary under Margaret Thatcher has said the IRA’s violence worked.
Tory grandee Lord Jim Prior oversaw Northern Irish affairs in 1981 at the time of the hunger strikes when 10 republicans died in prison.
Mrs Thatcher said the inmates were criminals and refused to grant concessions. Lord Prior claimed she never really understood what the problem was.
He said: “Violence probably does work, it may not work quickly and may not be seen to work quickly but in the long run one has to look back and say it did work.”
During Peter Taylor’s BBC documentary the peer said the IRA had tried to kill him and was “close to terrorism”.
The armed group targeted the Tory cabinet during their party conference in Brighton in 1984, and the bomb killed five people including the Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry.
Lord Prior said: “But there was a deeper side to it as well as a terrorist side.”
He added: “I know we did not win it but I am not certain the other side won it.
“As time went on it became possible for both sides to get into a position where it was easier to make peace than make war.”
One of the leading “wets” in Mrs Thatcher’s first Cabinet, Lord Prior had served in Ted Heath’s earlier government.
From 1979 until 1981, he was Mrs Thatcher’s employment secretary. In 1981, after a series of disputes with the Prime Minister over economic policies, she moved him to the Northern Ireland Office. He left the Cabinet in 1984 and stepped down from the Commons in 1987.
Lord Prior is best remembered in Northern Ireland for his introduction of “rolling devolution” in 1982 to elect an assembly with gradually increasing powers. The nationalist SDLP decided not to take up seats and the body was dissolved in 1986.
Fellow Conservative peer and former party chairman Lord Norman Tebbit, whose wife was paralysed in the Brighton bombing, said: “I have no sympathy for those who declare the war but having said all that, one way or another, a ceasefire was achieved and to that extent it was a price that was worth paying.
“I don’t think this was a war that was won, it was a war which ended in a truce.”
Former prime minister John Major, who once said it would turn his stomach to talk to the IRA but whose administration was involved in early contacts with republicans, was asked about his attitude now.
He said the angry part of him would never sit down with the IRA but the pragmatic part of him would if the outcome would carry the process forward.
Nobel Laureate Lord Trimble, a former first minister in Northern Ireland who led the Ulster Unionist Party before its eclipse by the DUP, said: “There may have been misjudgments I made, there may have been misjudgements the SDLP made, but I am not going to say it was not worth it.”
A former Northern Ireland secretary under Margaret Thatcher has said the IRA’s violence worked.Tory grandee Lord Jim Prior oversaw Northern Irish affairs in 1981 at the time of the hunger strikes when 10 republicans died in prison.Mrs Thatcher said
well ozy there was no trophy handed out for the winner so it is a matter of interpretation,gerard hodgkins,richard o raawe and the late dark hughes were all highly critical of the sinn fein and mainstream republican position over the last decade and a half and of course are entitled to that opinion,you could trawl through the internet and find such similar articles fro volunteers who will say the IRA did win the war so the thread as I said earlier is up for ones own interpretation.
well ozy there was no trophy handed out for the winner so it is a matter of interpretation,gerard hodgkins,richard o raawe and the late dark hughes were all highly critical of the sinn fein and mainstream republican position over the last decade and
well ozy there was no trophy handed out for the winner anyone will any political nous will realise the "game" is still being played and anyways everybody knows there will be only one result in the end.
well ozy there was no trophy handed out for the winner anyone will any political nous will realise the "game" is still being played and anyways everybody knows there will be only one result in the end.
there is no doubt in my mind..that the republican movement did the right thing in going into government..in that sense ..imo they lost the armed conflict..but won the peace...but in the end..and I hope before I die..Ireland will be as it should..one country......
there is no doubt in my mind..that the republican movement did the right thing in going into government..in that sense ..imo they lost the armed conflict..but won the peace...but in the end..and I hope before I die..Ireland will be as it should..one
as with scotland,northern ireland and its citizens are much better off remaining part of the UK!! if there ever is a referendum on this (id love to see it personally) i would bet 100/1 on that the majority (and probably also the majority of catholics) would vote to remain part of the UK.
regarding the question of who won the war - well if the objective of the armed conflict was to force a united ireland and the armed conflict was abandoned without this objective ever being reached then clearly terrorism lost the war!!
as with scotland,northern ireland and its citizens are much better off remaining part of the UK!! if there ever is a referendum on this (id love to see it personally) i would bet 100/1 on that the majority (and probably also the majority of catholics
I believe Taylor Swift rocked Ian Paisley's memorial service with an acoustic version of " We are never, ever, ever, getting back together"
Tony, do you not do popular culture?I believe Taylor Swift rocked Ian Paisley's memorial service with an acoustic version of " We are never, ever, ever, getting back together"
the Republicans won actually. Sinn Fein on course to be in power in both parts of the island soon. the Brits thought they could defeat the Irish resistance militarily but they got it wrong.
once Bobby Sands and the other Hunger Strike patriots gave their lives for the cause the situation changed completely.
the United Kingdom is on borrowed time as we seen in Scotland recently and soon enough it'll just be England and Wales.
and then it will be Cheerio to the likes of Ozy!!
the Republicans won actually. Sinn Fein on course to be in power in both parts of the island soon. the Brits thought they could defeat the Irish resistance militarily but they got it wrong.once Bobby Sands and the other Hunger Strike patriots gave th
thats a great response little dickie! i bet the steams coming out your fecking ears atm! you are good to get a laugh at,thats one thing can be said about you.however your ability to reply when FACTS are presented to you leaves alot to be desired.
thats a great response little dickie! i bet the steams coming out your fecking ears atm! you are good to get a laugh at,thats one thing can be said about you.however your ability to reply when FACTS are presented to you leaves alot to be desired.
Im glad you can leave your prejudices aside inside and participate in this 32 county all Ireland sports forum,it is the way forward,one island one country,im also glad you have finally embraced the way forward in a shared 32 county future....have a good and profitable evening sir...
Im glad you can leave your prejudices aside inside and participate in this 32 county all Ireland sports forum,it is the way forward,one island one country,im also glad you have finally embraced the way forward in a shared 32 county future....have a
New Guinea (PNG/Indonesia) Borneo (Malaysia/Indonesia/Brunei) Hispaola (Dominican Republic/Haiti) Cyprus (Greece/Cyprus)
etc etc
How does your 'One Island, One Country' dogma apply in such cases?
Dickie,How do you feel about the following islandsNew Guinea (PNG/Indonesia)Borneo (Malaysia/Indonesia/Brunei)Hispaola (Dominican Republic/Haiti)Cyprus (Greece/Cyprus)etc etcHow does your 'One Island, One Country' dogma apply in such cases?
"war is hell" the provos took on the might of the british army,with all their numbers,weaponry,expertise.even that demigod of the british establishment(thatcher) changed her tune after brighton.a small army of idealistic young men and women,volunteers, forced this so called great nation(the empire!) to get around a table and do a deal.
"war is hell"the provos took on the might of the british army,with all their numbers,weaponry,expertise.even that demigod of the british establishment(thatcher) changed her tune after brighton.a small army of idealistic young men and women,volunteers
We all know about the furore the Italian flag caused when a primary school had an Italian day up there and the grave offence the loyalists took at that one,suppose tis a bit similar and a high proportion of people are colour blind. New levels were reached with this though; www.youtube.com/watch?v=26htHDSBs6g
Btw have expected "Kelly" to stick his head over that red brick wall.
We all know about the furore the Italian flag caused when a primary school had an Italian day up there and the grave offence the loyalists took at that one,suppose tis a bit similar and a high proportion of people are colour blind.New levels were rea