FitzGerald, Garret

FitzGerald, Garret (b. 9 Feb. 1926). Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of the Irish Republic 1981–2, 1982–7 Born in Dublin, he gained a doctorate at University College Dublin (UCD) and a BL at King's Inns. A lecturer in Political Economy at UCD, 1959–73, he became a Senator in 1965, and was elected a Fine Gael member of the Dáil Éireann (Parliament) for Dublin South-East in 1969. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1973–7, and in 1977 succeeded Liam Cosgrave as party leader. In his first period as Taoiseach, he set up an Inter-Governmental Council on Northern Ireland with the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He lost the March 1982 elections, but was returned to office in the December 1982 general election, with another Fine Gael-Labour coalition. On 15 November 1985 FitzGerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement with Thatcher, which for the first time gave the Republic a consultative role in Northern Ireland, yet recognized the right of the majority in Northern Ireland to decide the province's political allegiance. This failed to bring a solution to the violence there, as it was fiercely rejected by the Ulster Unionists, but did not go far enough for the IRA. FitzGerald's political career is notable both for his willingness to understand Unionist loyalities, his work with Thatcher, and his attempts to make the Irish constitution more attractive to Ulster Protestants.