FALKLAND ISLANDS:Twenty five years ago this weekend, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic precipitating the Falklands War in which 913 people died.
The action unleashed one of the more substantial military clashes of recent decades and one of the largest naval conflicts since the second World War. It had the twin side effects of securing the then faltering leadership of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher while simultaneously precipitating the collapse of the military dictatorship in Buenos Aires.
The war also had a direct and negative impact on relations between Ireland and Britain. It soured beyond recovery the initial rapport between the then taoiseach, Charles Haughey, and Mrs Thatcher, and ensured that no breakthrough would be possible on Northern Ireland as long as he was in office.
The war began because the unpopular three-man Argentinian military dictatorship, led by army general Leopoldo Galtieri, sought to bolster its position at home by taking over the islands, a British overseas territory since 1833 which was long coveted by Argentinian rulers of every hue.
The islands lie some 483km (300 miles) east of Argentina and in land mass terms are about the same size as Northern Ireland. Today the population is 3,060; in 1982 it was just over 1,800, comprised mainly of sheep farmers and fishermen.
Signs of the pending conflict emerged on March 19th, 1982, when 50 Argentinians landed on the South Georgia Islands, another British dependency in the south Atlantic, east of the Falklands. Gen Galtieri calculated that if he went further, Mrs Thatcher, four years into her first term as premier and deeply unpopular, would not launch a counter-attack to save the Falklands which were, after all, 12,875km (8,000) miles away in the southern hemisphere.
He was wrong.
Mrs Thatcher assembled the most substantial British naval taskforce since the 1956-57 Suez crisis after the April 2nd invasion and dispatched it south to retake the islands.
Fighting a war at such a distance from the UK, and getting necessary supplies to the battle theatre, presented the British military with its greatest logistical challenge since the second World War. While Britain won what appeared to be an easy victory, the taskforce commander, Sandy Woodward, referred later to the conflict as "a lot closer run than many would care to believe" because of logistical problems.
The damage to Anglo-Irish relations was rooted in a change of policy by Mr Haughey. At the beginning of the crisis, Ireland agreed to a common European Community (forerunner of the EU) position in support of sanctions against Argentina for its illegal seizure of the Falklands. Mr Haughey was unhappy but was persuaded that breaking ranks would damage Anglo-Irish relations. However, as the British taskforce neared the Falklands, Mr Haughey's unhappiness increased. He declined to endorse United Nations resolution 502 calling Argentina to withdraw its forces.
After the sinking of the Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano, the Irish position changed completely. Defence minister Paddy Power said Britain was now the aggressor and Ireland would henceworth be neutral.
At a cabinet meeting on May 4th the government decided to seek a withdrawal of the EC sanctions against Argentina and to demand an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council to consider a resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities.
The British were infuriated and Mrs Thatcher was reported to be incandescent with rage. The result was that the progress Mr Haughey had made with Mrs Thatcher on Northern Ireland came to an abrupt halt.
Mr Haughey lost office at the end of 1982 and Anglo-Irish relations were restored by the new Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, who negotiated the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. Mrs Thatcher, buoyed by her Falklands victory, was re-elected prime minister for two further terms and was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century.