The Irish Ambassador in London, Mr Donal O'Sullivan, reported to Dublin on two conversations he had with Lord O'Neill, who, having resigned as Northern Ireland prime minister in 1969, was a keen observer of events.
Invited by Lord O'Neill to dinner at his London club in January, O'Sullivan reported that when O'Neill now looked back on the efforts at reform which he made in his time "he regards it as somewhat of a miracle that he survived so long as premier. The succession of conspiracies to unseat him really started from the time of his first meeting with Mr Lemass." O'Neill added that even if he had foreseen "all the difficulties ahead" he would do the same again.
It was O'Neill's opinion that the Northern people generally were "a difficult lot and we in the South have not made any serious effort to get to know them and to increase their trust in us. We should be doing far more to 'cultivate and show favour to our Northern neighbours' because there exists, even among the most moderate Protestants, quite a deep-rooted prejudice towards us".
O'Neill added that "it might surprise me" to know that so many moderate Catholics had "no desire" to join the South. O'Neill advised that "an immense and sustained effort" at reconciliation would need to be made by the Republic "if unification in some form is to be brought about one day. The change of heart towards us needed in the North is a good deal greater than we seem to realise."
O'Neill was pessimistic about the immediate outlook in Northern Ireland. The extremists on both sides would see to it that "the pot is kept on the boil". He believed Mr Brian Faulkner was "poised to take over" from Chichester-Clark. Faulkner was "not a man of any principle and could be expected to swing very much to the Right".
While he personally favoured the reform programme he was highly critical of the "dictatorial line" of Mr James Callaghan that "either you do these things or we take you over" .
He had recently asked Mr John Hume if he was happy with the reform programme and was surprised at the reply. "They are not like the reforms you introduced because there is no goodwill behind them."
On the role of the churches in the North, the Irish diplomat reported that it was O'Neill's view that they could "do far more" to counter bigotry.
Lord O'Neill professed to have a warm friendship for the Cardinal (Conway) but he added, with apologies, that "he is too weak, too cautious and perhaps a little devious".
At a dinner party at the Irish Embassy on April 27th, O'Neill again spoke to O'Sullivan about Faulkner, who had by then become prime minister. Mr O'Sullivan reported O'Neill as being "far less restrained in his comments on Faulkner than when we last met. Faulkner, he said, is so devious that it will be difficult for him to avoid falling foul of his own party and of the opposition".
O'Neill was "very disturbed" by reports of loyalists willing "to have a go" at the minority.
"Some of them would at this stage like nothing better than to see the army withdrawn so that they could take the law into their own hands."
