The 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement in historical perspective

On 15 November 1985 the governments of the United Kingdom and of Ireland signed an Agreement – with the status of an international treaty – which stipulated that Dublin would have a consultative role in the administration of Northern Ireland. This marked the most important constitutional and diplomatic development in Anglo-Irish relations since Partition in 1920. Opposed by both the Unionists and the Republicans, enthusiastically endorsed by both the US and the EEC, the Agreement was pursued by Dublin and London as a step to improve security and cooperation in Ireland. However, it had wider, partly unintended, consequences which contributed to the starting of the Peace Process in the 1990s, in particular by fostering a bi-partisan approach to the Troubles.

On the fortieth anniversary of the signing of this momentous document, the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College Cambridge and the Faculty of History, with the generous support of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, organise a major conference. Historians, in dialogue with some of the policy-makers, civil servants, and diplomats who crafted the treaty or were involved in the subsequent Peace Process, will reassess the making, immediate impact and long-term legacy of the Agreement.

Click here for a detailed programme and information about the speakers

Day one on Thursday 13th November will run 13:00 – 18:30

Day two on Friday 14th November will run 09:00 – 16:30