November 15, 1985

English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement on this day in 1985. The two leaders met at Hillsborough Castle. The Anglo-Irish Agreement was considered at the time to be the most significant development in Anglo-Irish relations since the partition of Ireland in the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. The 1985 agreement was aimed at bringing an end to the Troubles in the north by allowing the Irish government to have an active role in Northern Ireland’s government. It also stated that there would be no change in the constitutional standing for Northern Ireland, unless the majority of its people decided to join the Republic.