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By David McCullagh and Donal Byrne
While there were clear differences between the aims and approaches of the Irish and British officials, they generally worked well together during 1990. But not always.
In September, the British Ambassador to Ireland, Nicholas Fenn, was summoned to the Department of the Taoiseach by Secretary of Government Dermot Nally.
Nally conveyed the Taoiseach’s concern in Margaret Thatcher’s remarks, which seemed to cast doubt on Irish efforts against the IRA.
In response to a shooting at Air Chief Marshal Peter Terry and his wife at their Staffordshire home, Thatcher told an interviewer: “The question is … can we make sure the Republic is doing everything possible to track to the terrorists, their sources of weapons and their weapons depots. “
Nally told Fenn that since the attack took place in Britain, the Irish authorities could not have done much about it; that Scotland Yard had paid tribute to the cooperation received from Gardaí in other matters; and that comments like the prime minister’s “might be helpful only to the Provos and discourage those working against terrorism.”
Ambassador Fenn responded that he was in no way suggesting Ireland’s responsibility for the attack and “personally expressed his regret” for what happened.
He added that he would convey the Taoiseach’s concerns “to the right place.”
Two months later, Nally again ventured to the British at the behest of the Taoiseach.
This time, the dispute centered on the extradition of IRA bomb maker Dessie Ellis (now the Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North West).
Ellis had gone on a hunger strike to protest his extradition proposal to Britain, claiming that he would not get a fair trial (in fact, he was eventually acquitted).
His campaign generated considerable international support, and Haughey had tried to persuade Ellis’s parents to abandon their hunger strike until the Supreme Court decided his appeal against extradition.
His father replied that by the time the supreme case was over, his son “could be at Baldonnel and on his way to Britain in an hour.”
In fact, it took a little longer, because the RAF plane that was supposed to transport him was late.
Haughey, evidently feeling under pressure, erupted at the delay and instructed Nally to complain to the British.
This he did, first to Thatcher’s chief private secretary, Charles Powell: “I said that the Taoiseach’s opinion was that this botch had to end, or the other arrangements [about extradition] would do”.
And then to Ambassador Fenn: “I conveyed the views of the Taoiseach to him also in the strongest terms, pointing out the dangers of the whole process that arise from this kind of confusion.”
However, the Irish time on the moral ground did not last long.
It turned out that the problem originated in Dublin, because the Gardaí had failed to ensure that the RAF plane obtained the urgent diplomatic clearance needed when the British embassy approached the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Powell observed, “Things aren’t always what they seem, but I’m sorry for our part in the mess.”
[Based on documents in 2020/17/5 and 2020/17/12]
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