FitzGerald feared civil war if talks failed

Garret FitzGerald made an impassioned appeal to Margaret Thatcher to save their talks on the future of the North, warning that failure could trigger a civil war that would “drag down” the entire island, according to newly-released official papers.

Files released by the British National Archives at Kew, west London, show the Taoiseach told her that the collapse of their negotiations could even be exploited by Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi with deadly consequences for both their countries.