Talk:Anglo-Irish Agreement

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"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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)