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List of contents
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Notes on Primary Sources
Introduction
Part I: Leader of the Opposition, 1975-1979
1. Thatcher and the Conservative Party's Northern Ireland Policy, 1975-1979
2. Airey Neave and the Conservative Party's Northern Ireland Policy, 1975-1979
Part II: First-Term in Office, 1979-1983
3. Thatcher and the Evolution of the British Government's Northern Ireland Policy, 1979
4. The Atkins' Talks and the Haughey-Thatcher Relationship, 1980
5. Thatcher, the Second Republican Hunger-Strike and Anglo-Irish Relations, 1981
6. The Prior Initiative, the Falklands War and Anglo-Irish Relations, 1982
Part III: Second-Term in Office, 1983-1987
7. Thatcher, Fitzgerald and the Evolution of Anglo-Irish Relations, 1983-1984
8. Thatcher, American-Anglo Relations and the Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1985-1986
Part IV: Third-Term in Office, 1987-1990
9. Thatcher and the Genesis of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, 1987-1990
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Stephen Kelly is Associate Professor in Modern History and Head of History, Politics and International Relations at Liverpool Hope University, UK. He is the author of 'A Failed Political Entity': Charles Haughey and the Northern Ireland Question, 1945-1992 (2016), Frank Aiken: Nationalist and Internationalist (edited collection) (2014), and Fianna Fáil, Partition and Northern Ireland, 1926-1971 (2013).
Summary
Winner of the 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles
The first woman elected to lead a major Western power and the longest serving British prime minister for 150 years, Margaret Thatcher is arguably one the most dominant and divisive forces in 20th-century British politics. Yet there has been no overarching exploration of the development of Thatcher's views towards Northern Ireland from her appointment as Conservative Party leader in 1975 until her forced retirement in 1990. In this original and much-needed study, Stephen Kelly rectifies this.
From Thatcher’s ‘no surrender’ attitude to the Republican hunger strikes to her nurturing role in the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process, Kelly traces the evolutionary and sometimes contradictory nature of Thatcher’s approach to Northern Ireland. In doing so, this book reflects afresh on the political relationship between Britain and Ireland in the late-20th century.
An engaging and nuanced analysis of previously neglected archival and reported sources, Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party and the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1975-1990 is a vital resource for those interested in Thatcherism, Anglo-Irish relations, and 20th-century British political history more broadly.
Foreword
A comprehensive examination of Thatcher's stance on Northern Ireland during her time as Conservative Party leader from 1975 to 1990.
Additional text
A major subject, examined through the interrogation of very rich source material. A fascinating study of painfully evolving relationships.
