The big winner from the Hunger Strike of 1981 was the Sinn Fein party.  They were the harder line Republican party with a goal of a united Ireland. They were also closely associated with the IRA. They were the party which would form the ballot box side of Republican politics.


WHAT HAPPENED AFTER 1981?
  • The British Government found that the Hunger strikes had only hardened nationalist resolve and had began to turn people from the moderate SDLP towards Sinn Fein. 
  • The British desperately tried to form agreed political solutions. The Secretary of State at this time Jim Prior began a process of trying to introduce a new policy of  'ROLLING DEVOLUTION' 

WHAT WAS ROLLING DEVOLUTION?
  1. This was aiming to give Northern Ireland back a form of self government.
  2. It aimed to include POWER SHARING 
  3. No major decision could be made in this new Assembly without CROSS COMMUNITY SUPPORT. 



DID IT WORK?
Rolling Devolution had major problems from the beginning:
  • Only the Alliance Party supported it completely (and they were relatively small)
  • The UUP and DUP staged walk outs and refused to accept any Dublin influence
  • Without the Dublin influence the Assembly was boycotted by Sinn Fein and the SDLP. 
WAS IT IMPORTANT?
The Rolling Devolution trial was extremely important in one area. The ELECTIONS.
  • It were the 1st contest Sinn Fein had taken part in elections in years. 
  • The results showed them doing remarkably well, gaining 5 seats and coming close in a few.
  • The SDLP meanwhile were disappointed in only gaining 14 seats. 
  • This process continued in the 1983 General election with Sinn Fein moving even closer to the SDLP in electoral terms and Gerry Adams winning Gerry Fits seat in Parliament.
  • This clearly illustrated to 1) The British Government 2) The SDLP 3) Dublin and 4) The Unionists that Sinn Fein were a credible and growing presence. 
Unless an agreement was found their growth could only continue, squeezing moderate nationalists like the SDLP out and making any possible agreement less likely.  
Picture
WEBLINK: 1982 Assembly and Rolling Devolution
Picture
The SDLP were deeply worried about the steady challenge of Sinn Fein.  This could see moderate nationalism gradually wiped out (and with it the chance of an agreed settlement) 


  • The DUBLIN Government was also deeply worried about this prospect. 
  • They both decided to work together towards some form of solution to reduce support for Sinn Fein in the long term. 


They decided to establish a NEW IRELAND FORUM


WHAT WAS THE NEW IRELAND FORUM?
This was simply an open forum to discuss possible options to resolve the conflict in the North and provide long term solutions. 

Hume wanted the Irish Government to realise 2 things:
  1. That no solution could be found without recognising the Unionist fear of the prospect of a United Ireland. 
  2. That failure to provide some form of way forward only gave support to Sinn Fein. 
Picture
John Hume leader of an SDLP under Pressure
Picture
Members of New Ireland Forum
Picture
Picture
The New Ireland Forum faced a number of built in problems which weakened its influence considerably.

1. UNIONISTS WOULD NOT TAKE PART

Unionists would simply never consider any form of All Ireland settlement involving Dublin. Unionists were highly suspicious of the Dublin Government.
Any agreement without Unionists was highly unlikely to succeed.

2. ONLY CONSTITUTIONAL PARTIES COULD TAKE PART

The Government of the Irish Republic were devoted to a solely democratic and peaceful settlement. They would now allow any groups who supported violence (so Sinn Fein was excluded) 

3. THE BRIGHTON BOMB

The Republic's hope of re establishing relations with London and of them accepting any of the proposals was ruined by the IRA Brighton bomb.  This killed 3 people and very nearly killed British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. 


THE SIGNS OF ANY FORM OF AGREEMENT OR COMPROMISE LOOKED DIM
WEBLINK: New Ireland Forum
WEBLINK: Brighton Bomb
Picture
As you can see, the prospects for any agreement looked extremely poor in the mid 1980's.  Yet, in 1985, both Governments in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom agreed to sign a landmark document called the ANGLO IRISH AGREEMENT. 
  • It was signed only between the 2 governments NOT the Northern Ireland Political parties.  
  • It was also highly controversial at the time and deeply unpopular with Unionists. 
However it laid the foundations for the 1998 Good Friday Agreement 13 years later. 
Picture
Picture
Picture

What was in the Anglo Irish Agreement?...

For the Irish Government
  • The agreement at last gave in to the nationalist demand that the Dublin Government must have some form of role in the affairs of Northern Ireland.
  • It hoped that this agreement would draw support away from the IRA and SINN FEIN and back towards the moderate nationalists.
  • It was also hoped nationalists would begin to accept the Northern Ireland state due to the security of a connection with Dublin.

For the British Government
  • The British hoped the agreement would provide greater security cooperation with the Irish Republic which was essential in the war against republican terrorists. It was hoped this would allow for extradition and intelligence sharing
  • The British were also happy that the Republic accepted the unionist demand that the future of Northern Ireland should only be decided by its people and therefore a united Ireland could only come about through the people of Northern Ireland accepting it. It was hoped this would give the Unionists security to negotiate.
Picture
The agreement was greeted in London and Dublin with enthusiasm. However in Northern Ireland it was highly controversial and produced mixed reactions
WEBLINK: Anglo Irish Agreement
BBC BITESIZE : Anglo Irish Agreement
BBC Bitesize TEST YOURSELF ON ANGLO IRISH
Picture
Unionists were outraged, upset and angry about the Anglo Irish agreement but they were also absolutely isolated in terms of support. They could not depend on British support as they were part of the agreement and those others who hated the agreement were Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail - who the Unionists obviously despised. They set about a number of actions to try and demonstrate their fury and anger to the world. 
Picture
Picture
The Unionist campaign against the Agreement was doomed from the start. 
  1. The British and Irish Governments had made the agreement over their heads. They had also not created any institutions, like an Assembly, which the Unionists could bring down by refusing to join. 
  2. Embarrassingly, the Unionist protests mirrored nationalist and Republican tactics. This included Civil disobedience, marching, rioting and refusing to go to Parliament. 
  3. Their absence at Parliament was barely noticed as they were only a small part (14 MP's) out of 650
  4. Their refusal to collect rates was also hardly noticed as councils had very little powers. 
  5. They had even managed to lose a Parliamentary seat in the protest 
  6. The by elections the Unionists called proved one thing - that the agreement was actually already working in one of its goals. The SDLP increased their support and saw Sinn Fein's decline - a result the SDLP and Irish and British Governments were aiming for. 
  7. Unionists were forced to concede defeat and talk to the British Government in 1987
  8. The Anglo Irish Agreement, although not liked, was also the basis for the Good Friday Agreement through which Northern Ireland is run today through agreed Power sharing.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
BBC BITESIZE ANGLO IRISH AGREEMENT (REVISE 1)
BBC BITESIZE ANGLO IRISH AGREEMENT (REVISE 2)
BBC BITESIZE ANGLO IRISH AGREEMENT (VIDEO))
BBC BITESIZE ANGLO IRISH AGREEMENT (TEST)
Picture