Former Labour Party leader, Dick Spring, spoke to George Hook on the Right Hook on Newstalk this evening to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Anglo Irish Agreement, when eh was Tánaiste.
Reflecting on the agreement he said “I would say the Anglo Irish Agreement was Garret Fitzgerald’s finest hour” and that “someone without his resilience couldn’t have achieved it”
He said the Anglo Irish agreement was the foundation for the Good Friday Agreement; “If we didn't have the Anglo Irish Agreement we wouldn't have had the talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement”.
George put it to him that “Labour were the leaders of the left” and asked him about the “Technicolor of leftists now”?
Mr Spring said; “I think the younger people claiming to be the left. I think there is an immaturity in the way they behave.... (referring to Joan Bruton being trapped in a car by protesters)...there has to be respect. Politicians have to have to have respect for law and order”
Looking to the 2016 General Election he said; “I am frightened by the plethora of independents gaining support”. “We need stable government to drive the country forward”
On the current Fine Gael/ Labour government he believes “it has been a good solid government”.
Listen back to the full interview here;
