Notes
The Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council summit, which finished on Monday, was as non-committal as it is Possible for such things to be. Mrs Thatcher and Dr Fitzgerald agreed that they were against violence and they had 'a thorough and realistic exchange of views'. It is clear, and it always was clear, that Mrs Thatcher will not accept the suggestions of Dr Fitzgerald's New Ireland Forum. Even if She wanted to, there is no reason at present Why she should take any great risks to Placate the Irish government. Friendly relations, to be sure, are important to help in joint security operations against terror- ism and to try to sweeten Anglo-Irish contacts over EEC matters; but it is far more important for Mrs Thatcher to pre- serve an atmosphere of calm in Northern Ireland, conducive to whatever modest reforms Mr Douglas Hurd may intend, than to agitate initiatives and gesture ex- Pansively to the South. Dr Fitzgerald's behaviour at the summit is less easy to explain. He is bound to be criticised at home for accepting Mrs Thatcher's re- stated unionism so meekly. He has brought nothing back from the talks except for statements of friendly intent. What can he be hoping for? Is there some exciting new security arrangement which really will Make a difference to the defeat of terror- ism? One doubts it. It is more likely that Or Fitzgerald simply does not wish to admit that the whole Forum exercise, although it may have encouraged Irish Politicians to be a little more honest about their politics than they usually are, has not Produced the political change that its movers, with no good reason, expected. It is now the Irish who are in confusion about Ulster, the British who are edging towards realism.
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