Reagan was urged to pressure Thatcher over hunger strikes

Former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald personally pleaded with US president Ronald Reagan to pile pressure on Margaret Thatcher for an urgent compromise over the Maze hunger strikes, according to state papers.

In a desperate sign of the gravity of the crisis, Mr FitzGerald — who had taken office only days beforehand — warned that Ireland’s democracy was seriously under threat while relations with Britain were plunging to dangerous depths.

And in an attempt to win over support from the US leader, he assured Mr Reagan that he could play a decisive role in ending the IRA prisoner fast.