In his own words: what Garret Fitzgerald said

“The northern Unionist community has, for the first time, a commitment in the form of an international agreement that a change…

“The northern Unionist community has, for the first time, a commitment in the form of an international agreement that a change in the status of Northern Ireland would not take place without the consent of the majority in Northern Ireland – After signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985

“Deputy Haughey presents himself here, seeking to be invested in office as the seventh in this line, but he comes with a flawed pedigree. – Following Charles Haughey’s nomination as Taoiseach in December 1979

"I should have recognised the danger of using a colourful phrase that could easily be taken totally out of context . . . - From his autobiography All in a Life, published in 1991

"The price of failure could be to make a bad and dangerous situation worse - Speaking at the opening of the New Ireland Forum in June 1984

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" In retrospect, I think it would have been better if we never got involved. - Speaking in July 1983 on the decision to hold an abortion referendum

"The northern Unionist community has, for the first time, a commitment in the form of an international agreement that a change in the status of Northern Ireland would not take place without the consent of the majority in Northern Ireland - After signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985

"I did play rugby a lot. But when I found it meant running after a ball, I decided against that. - Garret Fitzgerald in The Irish Timesinterview in 2002

"The government is going to keep its hand out of the till from now on. - Pledging not to increase income taxes in October 1984