IRA chiefs risked their lives for peace, says Major

Former British prime minister John Major has said the IRA leadership risked their lives to deliver the peace process, without which their unending “dance of death” would have continued.

In Dublin for the 20th anniversary of the Downing St Declaration, Mr Major, 70, said while he and former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, 81, risked their careers, republicans had more at stake.

“If Albert and I upset our supporters, we might, as Albert cheerily said, ‘be kicked out’. That was true, but the IRA supporters were more deadly than our backbench colleagues, and their leaders were taking risks too, possibly with their own lives,” he said.

The declaration was signed on Dec 15, 1993, by Mr Major and Mr Reynolds, following secret negotiations, which paved the way for the August 1994 IRA ceasefire and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. For the first time, it said there could only be a united Ireland if the majority of people in the North and South consented.

Mr Major paid tribute to Mr Reynolds, who could not attend due to continuing ill health.

He told the audience, which included Mr Reynolds’s wife Kathleen and family, that the former taoiseach sought agreement, not argument.

“Albert, I see you too rarely these days, but think of you often. I am proud to call you a friend.”

He said the lowest moment of the process was the Warrington Bomb in Mar 1993, when the IRA murdered two boys, Johnathan Ball, 3, and Tim Parry, 12. He said the pressure to stop the process was “overwhelming”, but he persisted to avoid future similar tragedies.

Mr Major was welcomed to the third Iveagh House Commemorative Lecture by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, who said the relationship between Ireland and Britain had deepened in the past 20 years.

Mr Major praised Ireland’s “great courage and skill” in exiting the EU/IMF bailout, saying tax rises and spending cuts were not economic potions, because they hurt people’s lives.

“It hasn’t been easy or painless… Ireland can be proud of how social cohesion has been maintained and the country is now prepared for a return to better days.”

Mr Major recognised Ireland’s concern at the UK possibly voting to leave the EU, not least if it hardened border controls, which could unsettle the North’s Catholic community, but he did not expect the UK to withdraw.