25 years of British Irish Partnership
25 years of British Irish Partnership
15 November, 2010
A lunch was held today, Monday 15 November, in the Embassy of Ireland in London to mark the 25th anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement which was signed at Hillsborough Castle in 1985 by then-Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald, and then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The lunch was attended by individuals involved in the negotiations, and those associated with Anglo-Irish relations in more recent years.
Guests included Dr. Garret Fitzgerald, the current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson MP, former Minister Ms. Liz O’Donnell and former British Ministers Douglas Hurd and Geoffrey Howe.
The Taoiseach and Prime Minister sent messages to the assembled group.
The Taoiseach said:
“It is said that only with the passage of time do we begin to
see events in their true perspective.
Well, we now know that what flowed from the Anglo Irish Agreement,
the Downing Street Declaration and the Good Friday Agreement was
more than a peace process.
It is nothing short of a transformation in relations on these islands.
And at its heart lies a partnership between our two Governments that is both extraordinary and unmatched anywhere else.
The first ever visit to the Irish Embassy by a member of the Royal Family in recent days is a reminder of how this transformation still unfolds.
It will continue to unfold. It is unstoppable.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to those who helped set this in motion.
This was politics at its best. It was public service of the highest order.
Today we say thank you”.
Prime Minster Cameron said:
“I am sorry not to be back in the Irish Embassy again for your lunch today, among so many distinguished servants of government from these two islands.
Their work has provided immeasurable benefit to our peoples over the past 25 years, by contributing to peace, reconciliation and the establishment of stable self-government in Northern Ireland. But also through the remarkable development of relations between us as a whole.
Brian Cowen was one of the first world leaders I called when I arrived in No 10. And I am determined that we should build on the legacy established by those at the lunch today, and that our two governments should work in the closest possible cooperation.
In Northern Ireland, we must both work together on our common aims of upholding the agreements and institutions, and protecting all our people from the efforts of those few who refuse to acknowledge the overwhelming wish for peace.
More widely we must address together the challenges that face us, bilaterally, in the EU and beyond.
Those present today – and a number who sadly cannot be there – deserve our enormous gratitude for the work they did.
We must remember of course that they worked with some people of remarkable courage and vision outside government.
But their own leadership and skill were of the highest order, and our states were fortunate to have such people serving them.
I send my profound good wishes and thanks to all”
ENDS +++
15 November, 2010
