Despite all of the difficulties, Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher went on to sign the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement 40 years ago this month, following FitzGerald’s decision to open talks after she was re-elected in June 1983. The text – an international treaty later registered with the United Nations – was signed in Hillsborough on November 15th, beginning with an affirmation that “any change in the status of Northern Ireland would only come about with the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland” and went on to “recognise that the present wish of the people of Northern Ireland is for no change in the status of Northern Ireland”. A joint Anglo-Irish Secretariat was set up in Maryfield on the outskirts of Belfast. The agreement did little to bring the communities in Northern Ireland together, but it contributed hugely to the normalisation of relations between Dublin and London. The Anglo-Irish Agreement brought about positive change.
