Ahern leads Irish tributes

IRELAND: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has led Irish tributes to former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath, who died yesterday.

He said Sir Edward had enjoyed "a long and distinguished career" in British parliamentary politics spanning 50 years. He singled out his role in bringing Britain into the EEC in 1973 and "his lifelong advocacy of the European project".

"Sir Edward will be remembered with particular affection in Ireland because it was he who negotiated the Sunningdale Agreement of 1974 which in many ways was the model for every subsequent effort to bring about peace and stability on the island of Ireland."

Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave recalled Sir Edward's historic visit to Baldonnel aerodrome in September 1973, when the two leaders discussed the North.

Mr Cosgrave said his opposite number knew his brief very well. Later that year, the two men along with Northern politicians negotiated the Sunningdale Agreement.

Mr Cosgrave said this provided for the establishment of an executive on which nationalist and unionist politicians worked together for the first time. However, he added the Labour government which succeeded Mr Heath's administration then "capitulated" in the face of the Ulster Workers' Council strike.

"He worked long and hard to get an agreement which was acceptable to all involved in the discussions," Mr Cosgrave said last night.

"He and I worked together to achieve this agreement which, in retrospect, was a turning point in the relations between Britain and Ireland.

Former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, described Mr Heath as "a shy and somewhat awkward man" who was "an unlikely British prime minister".

Had Mr Heath won the 1974 British elections, he would have handled the Ulster Workers' Council strike quite differently from Harold Wilson. "He would have sought to nip it in the bud rather than letting Northern Ireland drift into chaos as happened under Mr Wilson. The history of the North might then have taken a quite different course."

Historian Prof Ronan Fanning said Sir Edward's reputation had "nowhere to go but up" in relation to his Irish dealings.

But Sir Reg Empey, the new Ulster Unionist leader, claimed his abandonment of Sunningdale would linger long in the memory.

He said: "Sir Edward Heath will be seen as a controversial prime minister, particularly when applied to Northern Ireland with his decision to introduce direct rule."

Sinn Féin said Mr Heath would be remembered as the British prime minister who oversaw state killings on Bloody Sunday. "There never was any intention on the part of the Heath government to disclose the truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday."