CHARLES HAUGHEY, who presented Margaret Thatcher with a Georgian silver teapot at his first meeting with her in Downing Street in May 1980, was “lyrical” about the success of the encounter,according to the British files released yesterday.
Three days after the summit, Haughey told British ambassador to Ireland Robin Haydon the atmosphere had been “wonderful” and that “to be honest”, he had been surprised everything had gone so well, according to Haydon’s note of the discussion.
Accepting that the British would not withdraw the constitutional guarantee to unionists, Haughey wondered, however, how “he was ever going to manage to talk to [the Rev Ian] Paisley with the guarantee behind him”.
Haydon, who had earlier warned London that Haughey was facing a general election in the months ahead, said contacts would develop in time, but Haughey replied: “I haven’t got any time!”
Haughey acknowledged that Northern Protestants had “genuine misgivings” and that those fears “had to be allayed” if there was ever going to be a united Ireland, but “wooing” them would take a lot of time, he said.
Haydon went on: “Speaking as a Protestant, I said I could understand how they felt.
“I mentioned an encounter I had with Bishop [Cornelius] Lucey of Cork, adding that I knew that he was an extreme case.
“Haughey laughed and said, ‘He’s a Calvinist!’
“He continued that he was not a deeply religious man and did not mind if someone wanted to ‘worship Ali Baba and the Seven [sic] Thieves’,” Haydon reported in a telegram to London.
Meeting minister for foreign affairs Brian Lenihan a few days later, “who was his usual affable self” and who dwelt at length on how good the “vibes” were after Downing Street and, “not prompted by me”, said Ireland would be prepared to take part in defence co-operation.
“I asked if that included possible membership of Nato and he replied that it did.
“In his view, Ireland’s neutrality was diminished as soon as it joined the EC [European Community].
“He admitted, in reply to my question, that he might be a bit before his time so far as the general public and some of his colleagues were concerned.
“The public would have to be educated for the change which he was sure would come,” the ambassador added.
Following the Downing Street encounter, Ireland’s ambassador to London Eamon Kennedy wrote to Thatcher expressing thanks for the “elusive blend of warmth and elegance” displayed at the delightful luncheon.
“We all felt that new and encouraging vistas of co-operation in friendship had been opened between us, and that the two islands were coming closer together,” said Kennedy, who followed up with a bunch of orchids.
Writing from Chequers a few days later, Thatcher replied to Kennedy: “I am glad that you enjoyed the lunch. So did I. The orchids are quite lovely. I have had them brought down to Chequers and they are by me as I write.”
