Fr. Reid's secret letter to Haughey started peace journey

national | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Friday July 06, 2007 00:07 by John Meehan

Sunningdale For Slow Learners

At what point in time did the leadership of the Republican Movement decide to go for an internal settlement in Northern Ireland? Documentary Evidence supplied by Ed Moloney suggests the date was 1987 :

http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_times/arts2007/j...y.php

At what point in time did the leadership of the Republican Movement decide to go for an internal settlement in Northern Ireland? Documentary Evidence supplied by Ed Moloney suggests the date was 1987 :

http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_times/arts2007/j...y.php

In tandem with this secret diplomacy, the IRA's armed campaign continued - at great intensity.

The question has to be asked - for what purpose?

There was no need for an armed campaign if the objective was the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Such a settlement was the fixed policy of both the London and Dublin Governments from the early 1970's onwards.

The Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 - an internal settlement Mark 1 - was, if anything, a better deal for the Catholic Minority than the current Paisley/McGuinness right-wing coalition sitting on Stormont Hill.