Unionists felt that Margaret Thatcher was someone they could trust so when she signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement giving Dublin the right to be consulted over NI, unionists felt utterly betrayed and they were outraged. The UUP leader Jim Molyneax even called it an “an evil document.” Tens of thousands of unionists took to the streets of Belfast, a day forever remembered due to the DUP leader Ian Paisley’s “never, never, never” speech.

Professor Fergal Cochrane, Alex Kane, Professor Graham Walker, and Dr. Peter McLaughlin explain what happens when the Anglo-Irish Agreement is revealed and why.

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The Hunger Strikes had led to a surge in support for Republicanism and in October 1984, Margaret Thatcher herself, narrowly escaped death in the Brighton bombing. Her intelligence chiefs were clear; they weren’t going to defeat the IRA by purely military and security means – she decided something had to be done. Meanwhile in Dublin, fears over the rise of Sinn Féin and frustration with a lack of progress in advancing nationalists’ interests led to an openness to fresh ideas. The stage was set for secret talks which led to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed on the 15 November 1985. Ulster’s Unionists were outraged by what they saw as a betrayal.

What was the background to the agreement, why was it so controversial, and what did it really involve?

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Professor Fergal Cochrane, commentator, Alex Kane, Professor Graham Walker, and Dr. Peter McLaughlin.

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“I’m still working because the thieving HMRC came after me... at the most vulnerable time in my life,” Eamonn Holmes has revealed to the BelTel. He spoke to Ciarán Dunbar about his tax troubles, Donald Trump, working for GB News and growing up in the New Lodge area of Belfast. The GB News presenter is currently touring Northern Ireland with his one man show, ‘This Is My Life’.

He joined Ciarán Dunbar in the studio.

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