Thatcher's child

Robin Sheeran The Politics Show Northern Ireland

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John Major: seven years of talks about talks

According to Andrew Marr's excellent Modern History of Britain - Tuesdays BBC One 9.30 - we are all "Thatcher's children".

It is a claim that might be disputed by many on this side of the water.

What is indisputable is that the attitudes and actions of the Iron Lady, from the Hunger Strikes through the Anglo-Irish Agreement and onwards, had a profound influence on politics in Northern Ireland.

Given the high-profiles of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, it is easy to overlook the seven-year premiership of John Major.

And if anyone can lay claim to being the political child of Mrs T, it is surely the mild-mannered former MP for Huntingdon.

Major years

This week, on Politics Show from Northern Ireland, Jim Fitzpatrick interviews Sir John Major.

The story of the Good Friday Agreement and its aftermath has overshadowed events during the Major years.

The IRA bomb in Canary Wharf dealt a devastating blow

Three months after he took office, the IRA mounted an audacious mortar attack on Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.

The following years of "two-steps forward, one-step back" diplomacy saw the Downing Street Declaration of December 1993, the first IRA ceasefire of August 1994, the publication of the Framework Documents in February 1995, the first Clinton visit in December 1995, the Canary Wharf bombing in February 1996, multi-party talks and the first meeting of the Northern Ireland Forum in June 1996.

Plenty to talk about then.

Home truths

In a revealing interview, the former Prime Minister tells Jim about the beginnings of the peace process and the role he played at the time.

He says he would have liked to meet Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness in 1996 but felt it was too close to a General Election.

Jim Fitzpatrick presents the Politics Show Northern Ireland

And he claims that, had he remained in office, the same outcome would have been achieved - ceasefire, decommissioning and devolution.

Sir John also reveals that, although he and the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, got on well, they had ferocious arguments.

And he takes a pop at Secretary of State, Peter Hain, about comments he made regarding Major's understanding of republicanism.

Politics Show

Be sure to join presenter Jim Fitzpatrick for Politics Show from Northern Ireland - Sunday 17 June 2007 at 12:00 BST on BBC One.

You get a second chance to see the programme again that night, at 22:55 GMT on BBC One.

Let us know what you think.

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