Anglo-Irish Agreement

Concord reached in 1985 between the UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish prime minister Garret FitzGerald. One sign of the improved relations between the two countries was increased cooperation between police and security forces across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The pact also gave the Irish Republic a greater voice in the conduct of Northern Ireland's affairs. However, the agreement was rejected by Northern Ireland Unionists as a step towards renunciation of British sovereignty. Following further talks in March 1988, the UK and Irish prime ministers issued a joint statement in Northern Ireland. The statement did not envisage any particular outcome, but specified that the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland was required before there could be any constitutional change.

All-party peace talks were planned during the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire from 1994 to 1996, but were delayed by the IRA's unwillingness to decommission its arms prior to full British troop withdrawal from Northern Ireland. After the ceasefire was restored in July 1997, multiparty peace talks on the future of Northern Ireland started in September 1997.