Would the "dries" perhaps try to step in and find somebody to oppose Heseltine in a leadership election? Or, alternatively, would he end up promising them that he wouldn't diverge too far from Thatcherism?
The problem is actually finding a dry who is viable enough to actually beat Heseltine in a straight out fight. Biffen and Howe come to mind as the most viable after Tebbit, however neither strike me as being able to pull it off.Would the "dries" perhaps try to step in and find somebody to oppose Heseltine in a leadership election? Or, alternatively, would he end up promising them that he wouldn't diverge too far from Thatcherism?
*snip*
The question of course that is most interesting is how FitzGerald reacts, and I suspect that you would see him also coming down hard on the IRA, perhaps even moving to co-operation with the British Government on the border.
While there's no question that there would be a step up in operations, there's the issue with the suggestion raised above about the potential reintroduction of the death penalty, that would end any chance of extradition to the UK. Of course Anglo-Irish relations are in the toilet for a generation most likely.
Didn't Ireland used to have death penalty for treason, political murders or murders against Garda members until the 1990s?
The death penalty in this country is largely a quaint throwback to the days when everyone else had one. As we no longer have a hangman, and almost the only country in the world in a position to train one is South Africa, there is no immediate prospect of execution in this jurisdiction. That being said, the abolition of the death penalty would represent a strong political minus in the eyes of certain right-wing groupings, including the gardaí, the RUC and the DUP. While the step would be practically meaningless, it could be used in a politically damaging way.
In theory yes. In reality no. Even Haughey was opposed.Didn't Ireland used to have death penalty for treason, political murders or murders against Garda members until the 1990s?