New book reveals British considered redrawing border

By Ray O’Hanlon

The British government considered redrawing the border only a few days after the Bloody Sunday shootings in 1972.

Conservative Party Prime Minister Edward Heath pondered the possibility of handing the Bogside and Creggan in Derry and Newry in County Down to the Republic, according to a book being published in New York this week.

The revelations, culled from secret cabinet minutes taken at a meeting in Downing Street on Friday, Feb. 4, 1972, are contained in "For the Cause of Liberty," by New York-based Terry Golway, a Irish-American journalist and author.

The book, published by Simon & Schuster, is an account of the leading personalities in Irish nationalism over the last thousand years.

The book chronicles the efforts of both famous and relatively obscure figures to win Irish national self-determination. It also highlights the efforts of loyalists such as Gusty Spence to reach a better understanding and accommodation with nationalist aspirations.

In its treatment of the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry, in which 14 civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers, Golway includes an account of the cabinet meeting that was attended by then Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner.

Describing the meeting as "tense," the book states that Heath brought up a remarkable suggestion.

"Heath asked Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner, who was in attendance, if there was any support for a proposal to cede two Catholic neighborhoods in Derry — the Bogside and Creggan — to the Irish Republic. Such a startling move would have meant redrawing the border of Northern Ireland, which even the most moderate Unionist would have regarded as a stunning betrayal of Britain’s commitment to the province’s Protestants."

The book’s account of the meeting continues: "Not surprisingly, Faulkner told Heath that the proposal should not be taken seriously, noting that once begun, the redrawing of Northern Ireland’s boundaries might never end. Besides, he noted cryptically, giving the Irish Republic parts of Derry would not resolve the core of the problem, which he described as the attitude of Belfast’s Catholics."

According to the book’s account, Heath continued to press the point, asking Faulkner why Unionists wouldn’t consider giving the Republic Catholic areas in Derry or in Newry, Co. Down.

"Faulkner maintained that not everybody in those areas was an Irish Republican. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Relations, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, put Faulkner further on the defensive by asking whether an exchange of population in such areas could be arranged. Faulkner said he didn’t believe Catholics would willingly move from the North to the Republic because they would face a drop in living standards.

"Later in the meeting, which barely touched on the Army’s deadly assault on civilians, Heath wondered about the stability of the Irish Republic’s government. He asked Faulkner if he thought it was possible that the IRA could take over Dublin. Faulkner said he could by no means rule out the possibility."