Challenge to Anglo-Irish Agreement

Monday, June 15, 2009
JOE JOYCE
IRISHTIMES.COM


FROM THE ARCHIVES: HAVING GROWN accustomed to Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness sharing power in the North, it may be difficult to look back at the sense of surprise – not to mention cheek – that greeted the challenge to the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement by two unionists in the High Court and Supreme Court in Dublin.

Michael McGimpsey (now Minister for Health in the Northern Executive) and his brother Chris tried to use the Republic’s then constitutional claim to sovereignty over the North to have the agreement, which unionists rejected, declared invalid. Joe Carroll was there to report on their first day in the Four Courts.

Four Courts treaty battle rejoined

This month 66 years ago, the Anglo-Irish Treaty opposed by the Republicans led to the bombardment of the Four Courts and civil war.

Yesterday another Anglo-Irish treaty was being fought over in the Four Courts as two Official Unionist Party members, backed by leading Tory MPs, opened their High Court action to have the Hillsborough Agreement struck down by Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution.

Seán MacBride, SC, who defended the Four Courts garrison and later returned to become the courts’ most distinguished legal luminary, would have appreciated the irony of Ulster Unionists, one of whom carries an Irish passport, using Mr de Valera’s document to blast this latest Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The exchanges between rival counsel were reaching light artillery level yesterday when Mr Justice Barrington called a halt 10 minutes before the normal adjournment time of 4pm.

The case against the Anglo-Irish Agreement by Dr Christopher McGimpsey and his brother Michael was opened by Hugh O’Flaherty, SC. Expectations that the State’s defence would be led yesterday by the Attorney General, John Murray, were not fulfilled and the burden fell on Eoghan Fitzsimons, SC.

As the day went on, Mr Fitzsimons was more and more on his feet objecting to the “political” arguments which he accused Mr O’Flaherty of adducing to support the McGimpseys’ case.

Dr McGimpsey, sporting a bright green tie, told the court of his involvement in Unionist politics even before the strictly legal age of 16. He produced his wine-coloured Irish passport, which was handed over for inspection to Mr Justice Barrington, who had earlier mildly enquired whether he was an Irish citizen. It was also revealed that Dr McGimpsey owned a site in Co Donegal for a holiday home.

Brother Michael, sporting a Trinity College tie, was being led by Mr O’Flaherty down the path of recent history in the North since the fall of Stormont when he was interrupted by the verbal cross-fire between counsel and rather surprisingly accused of making “an inflammatory statement”. A more un-inflammatory man it would be hard to imagine.

The shadow of the Raymond Crotty case against the Single European Act fell heavily across yesterdays proceedings as Mr O’Flaherty argued strongly that the Anglo-Irish Agreement “fettered” the Government’s freedom to conduct foreign policy, contrary to the Constitution.

To show that the agreement was now binding under international law, he took the courtroom on a tour of the world which included east Greenland, Norway, New Zealand, the Pacific, Cambodia, Thailand and the case of the Temple of Preah Vihear. A long way from Hillsborough.