THE NEED to address the “three strands” of relationships within Ireland and these islands was put strongly to the British government by SDLP leader John Hume at a meeting in April 1980.
Hume, accompanied by an SDLP delegation including Austin Currie and Hugh Logue, met Northern secretary Humphrey Atkins at Stormont Castle on April 18th, 1980 as part of the Tory government’s talks initiative.
Hume said the North’s economy was in a very serious state. He suggested establishing small industries on both sides of the Border and pointed to a Dublin-Derry air link as a venture worth supporting. Atkins said this air link was costing £100 a passenger for each trip, to which Mr Hume made the rejoinder that £26,000 would be spent on each job established at the De Lorean car plant in Belfast.
Hume told Atkins there were three important elements in political talks: (1) relationships between the people of Northern Ireland; (2) relationships between the people of North and South; and (3) relations between Britain and Ireland. He argued, the government of the Republic had a very large role to play in any settlement and insisted it should be involved in talks.