Thatcher Ireland and the Iron Lady PDTV XviD spinzes avi

The documentary examines her relationship with Taoisigh Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald and provides an insight behind the scenes to key events such as the IRA hunger strikes and the signing of the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985.

During the 1980’s David Goodall was won of the most senior British diplomats involved in negotiating the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985. After the British victory in the Falklands he spoke to the British Prime Minister at a private dinner.

In the documentary Sir David Goodall says: “I said in the course of this conversation: Relations between Ireland and Britain are complicated by the fact that so many of us are in this country are of Irish descent, and although they don't like to say so, so many people on the island of Ireland are actually of British descent.”

“Mrs. Thatcher listened to that and then she said: I am completely English. So I said: Well, I'm not. I mean, one of my grandfathers was born in Ireland and there are hundreds of thousands of people in this country like me. And she said: H'mm, now you mention it my great, great grandmother was O'Sullivan, so perhaps I'm one 16th Irish"

“At the end of this conversation she said reflectively: H'mm, if we get back again I think I'd like to do something about Ireland."

“Thatcher: Ireland and the Iron Lady” features interviews with former Labour leader and Tánaiste Dick Spring, Michael Lillis, a senior Government’s negotiator during the Anglo-Irish Agreement and Martin Mansergh, Charles Haughey’s special advisor on Northern Ireland.

It also includes contributions form many of Thatcher’s former British cabinet ministers and key advisors including Charles Powell, her former Private Secretary, Douglas Hurd, former British Foreign Secretary and her press officer and staunch ally, Sir Bernard Ingham.

The documentary also reveals how, despite efforts to improve co-operation between the two governments, the British continued to spy on their Irish counterparts.

Duration : 52mn 23s
Video
Bit rate : 1 147 Kbps
Width : 624 pixels
Height : 350 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Audio
Codec :Mp3
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels