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LOVED AND LOATHED in equal measure by the public who gave her three terms in office, Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as Prime Minister – from 1979 to 1990 – was a period of major transformation for Britain, its economy, and its social institutions.
Here is a look at Thatcher’s period in power, in video.
The 1979 election was relatively unusual: amid the background of rising tensions in Northern Ireland, the Labour administration – propped up by nationalists from Scotland and Wales, and Ulster Unionists – collapsed and left all three main parties fighting an election with new leaders.
Running on a platform of resisting the trade union movement – which had become increasingly powerful and called many damaging strikes – Thatcher won a 5-per-cent swing for the Conservatives and became Britain’s first female Prime Minister.
(YouTube: hiltonhead)
Thatcher set about a plan to tackle inflation as part of a more liberal economic agenda, including the privatisation of many state bodies. The plan had not started well: unemployment had begun to rise.
Journalists expected Thatcher to wilt and admit the ill-effects of her agenda. They didn’t get the admission they expected.
(YouTube: danco28)
For some the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands was the key point of Thatcher’s tenure. With popularity waning at home, and with the public feeling sore about the slow dissolution of the British Empire after World War 2, Thatcher acted resolutely in sending military support to fight the Argentine invasion.
(YouTube: TheRoyalPalace)
The decisive victory in the Falklands won Thatcher the nickname of ‘the Iron Lady’ – a moniker that she was said to enjoy and almost relish, as a reputation to aspire to.
However unpopular she may have been beforehand, the wartime victory sent Thatcher’s popularity soaring and meant the 1983 election was an easy win. Britain’s first ever female prime minister had won her second term.
(YouTube: liarpoliticians)
At 2:54am the morning before Thatcher’s speech to the Conservative Party conference, the IRA detonated a bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton hoping to assassinate the entire British cabinet. Cabinet ministers were injured; the wife of one was killed.
Determined not to allow the republicans disrupt the event, Thatcher delivered a defiant speech.
(YouTube: britishpathe)
A lengthy and delicate diplomatic process between Thatcher and the Taoiseach of the day, Garret FitzGerald, culminated with the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
The deal was the first to give the Republic a consultative role in the administration of the North, while also securing Irish acknowledgement of some of the North’s administrative and policing structures.
(YouTube: ninthwave)
If the Falklands marked Thatcher’s zenith, the strikes of 1984 and 1985 marked her nadir – and is the reason she remained loathed among many in the industrial and working classes.
Britain’s trade unions declared open war on the Thatcher administration; Thatcher responded by closing many state-owned mines and led to the infamous 1984 ‘Winter of Discontent’. The miners’ campaign waned in 1985 and the tension ultimately led to union in-fighting that saw the end of the resistance.
(YouTube: iconic)
The 1987 election was not quite as decisive as four years earlier, but having dealt a near-fatal blow to the union movement and continued economic liberalisation, Thatcher took a third term in 1987 with barely a dent in her House of Commons majority.
(YouTube: MrElectionist)
By 1990, with another election coming into view, British minds were occupied by the continued development of the European Community. Thatcher had already overseen Britain’s entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (prompting the departure of her Chancellor).
Then, the European Commission president Jacques Delors – a committed federalist – made clear his desire that the European political institutions would be considered the prominent political vehicles in each member state.
In an assertion that has come to define the UK’s ongoing relationship with Britain, Thatcher made it clear that she would oppose a movement to make Westminster fully subservient to Brussels.
(YouTube: Ingrid Kampen)
It had become evident that, despite her assurances about the development of the European Community and Britain’s role within it, that a fourth term of office was out of the question – too many parts of British society were now too vehemently opposed to her rule.
Michael Heseltine challenged her leadership and forced the vote to a second ballot – enough for supporters to encourage her to stand down. She left Downing Street in tears, allowing John Major to become prime minister to take power (and ultimately allow the UK to ratify the Maastricht Treaty anyway).
(YouTube: iconic)
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Fair play to him i say! Too many women using their kids as bargaining chips to blackmail fathers, and it’s being supported by the courts. It’s even more relevant now as it seems women want to right to end the life of the unborn without fathers consent. This must be part of the debate.
“—as it seems women want to right to end the life of the unborn without fathers consent —”
What has the father got to do with it? It’s the woman’s womb, not his. He can state his opinion of the matter, but the ultimate decision is the woman’s and hers only.
If you want to be sure that no woman that you have impregnated will ever decide that an abortion is the preferable option for her, just keep your snag in your pants and confine your sex life to choking the chicken.
There’s a lot of very good fathers out there who should get a lot more time and financial help . But there’s also the fathers who will do little or nothing for their children it’s terrible that good fathers are labelled with all the bad ones
That’s true alan. There are just as many unfit mothers but its down to the state to prove that. It should be exactly the same for Fathers. It should not be down to the child’s mother. They should have equal rights. A court of law is the only way a father should lose rights single and married.
Fathers have little or no rights to their children as re-enforced time and again by the courts, just have a look
That’s not entirely true. The court system in this country is quite good at granting access to men fit for the job. But its the time in between court thats the problem ahe has all the power until a judge says otherwise and it could take months. Months of not seeing your child woukd drive you insane. Now that should not be the case. The case should be equal rights for all fathers and if they are not fit for the job then that must be proven first. Its the only situation in law where you are guilty until proven innocent
Unfortunately for him his message got somewhat lost in translation as Farmers4Justice trended for some time after on Twitter.
The best thing to happen in the Rose of Tralee for decades!! Give him the crown and sash!! My winner
Don’t understand the relevance of him being a ticket holder.
Very relevant. Huge difference between a ticket holder in the audience charging the stage, and someone without a ticket gaining access to the venue, and charging the stage. Basically anyone in the audience can could charge the stage easily without a full line of security.
Because the question is being asked by some people “how did he manage to get into the venue to carry out this protest and why did security not stop him?” Implying that there were inadequate securiry checks in place. His being a ticket holder, means that he passed through the security checks in place, because he had a ticket the same as everyone else attending the event. The only time he acted any differently to anyone else, was when he left his seat and rushed onstage, at which point the security grabbed him and took him out of the venue and handed him over to the Garda. I am sure someone will make a glib comment about how the security wasn’t adaquate or he wouldn’t have got near the stage, but its always a balancing act between the potential threat, the visual difference between a covert and overt security presence, and the requirements of the event organisers.
Yes,but it’s not as if there is a strict security vetting of all ticket holders,
“Adequate” security – that would make you feel safe. Also, their tweet that they stormed the stage is overblowing it a bit. One guy walking on to the stage is hardly a storm. I support Fathers4justice but this was deeply unfair to that poor womsn. It would be funny if her calm response to the unexpected helped her win the competition : )
What an eejit! He hardly thinks silly stunts are going to do his cause any good.
Why did he dress up as a priest, by the way? He has nothing to do with the Catholic Church, which has enough problems of its own without being seen to be associated with stunts like this.
I agree with Brianna as well. How could any person in their right mind deny women a say over their reproductive processes?
Fintan you are talking rubbish he has achieved a lot first he got a free slot on prime time TV second he has got the number one slot on social media and by tonight he will again appear again on prime time TV and all repeats so Fintan this has done a lot for his cause
Oh sure, he is really driving home his message and I’m sure his disruptive behaviour will cut a lot of ice when and if he ever decides to do what rational people do: try to convince a court of law that he deserves greater access to his children.
The man is an ameuter compared to the heckler on the Pat Kenny Frontline audience a few years ago
Fair play to this guy. He obviously loves his kids more than the low life who is keeping him from them. No doubt the kids will see the situation as it is and shun their mother in later life. Things are getting better but we still have a long way to go to stamp out misandry
All he has proved is that he’s an eejit and an exhibitionist, with extremely poor judgment of how to further his cause. Nothing in his behaviour justifies calling the mother of his children a lowlife.
@ emily davison You describe the mother of his children as a “low life” who is keeping him from them. You know nothing about her and she may well be an admirable person and a good and caring mother. Perhaps also she does not want her children to be subjected to the influence of someone like their irrational father. I shall pray for that silly man.
Any women who would keep their children away from their father is a low life. This is a big problem in our society that affects tens of thousands and no one seems to Care. Fair enough we don’t know the situation but this was a peaceful protest, he didn’t hurt anyone and he is drawing attention to and issue that most of us are completely unaware of. Also this isn’t just hurting him, it is affecting his parents, siblings as well as depriving his children time with their cousins. What a small amount of mothers do is a thundering disgrace and an affront to human decency.
“Any women who would keep their children away from their father is a low life.”
That is one hell of a sweeping statement. I hope you exclude mothers whose husbands/partners have been abusive, alcoholic, drug addicts, pathological liars, pussyhounds, criminals —
Nobody knows the reasons why he hasn’t got access to his kids or why she is keeping them away from him.fathers deserves more rights and access to their children but we don’t know the history behind this case .
Pussy hounds David? Good to know that you think it is more Socially acceptable for a mother to keep her kids away from her father than it is for a man to be unfaithful to his wife.
Well David what about unfaithful wives who get automatic custody of the kids and withhold access to the children? Or is it only bad when men do it?
Surely legal proceedings will follow and comments should be closed …. Or is that just for Brazil law ……..
So he wants less jail time for priests who commit sexual crimes?
more and more men are backing out of marriage because the contract is unfair to men , if society wants to continue and both sexes want to achieve their goals a new consensus is needed.
Any facts to back up your claim ? Sure in the last year alone we have many marriages were its just me getting married so in fact the numbers are increasing
look at the UK and US., Ireland is normally a generation behind
Dave , unmarried fathers have pretty much no rights .
Actually married men have more rights to their children than unmarried fathers.
He was successful. people are talking about the issue
they are backing out of having kids too, that’s the point. nobody talks about a shortage of women, all the women are moaning about the shortage of men. More of them are deciding not to play the game
I am unmarried with two kids. I have zero rights.
I’m not even allowed sign as a guardian on many forms and applications as I’m considered irrelevant.
Dave Ireland had the highest birth rate in the EU last year.
if you are going to have kids marriage is better for rights but its still a unfair contract, are the cards are with the women in the courts
@ Bleep You do have rights, but some are conditional on you doing certain things.
For example, you might give some thought to that ancient institution called marriage. Then you will be in a better position to sign forms and applications on behalf of your children.
anyone that has kids by intention without being married is mental, you are basically taking on the roll of sperm donor and wallet
Have you applied for guardianship?
I can only conclude security is lax, imagine if ISIL terrorists were to target this event, they would have a field day. Don’t say it could not happen just look at Paris, Brussels etc!; it only takes one nut case!
What do you want proinasias the national guard between stage and audience
No, but there will probably have to be a lot more security at the entrance. Handbag searches and probably targeted searches.
They will have to place very strict security at the stage area and probably vet all of those with access.
@Pronsias, that would work. I can just picture a big burly Mayo Garda saying ” show me yer handbag there missus, ’til I check if you have a man dressed as a priest hidden inside in it’. Great idea.
I have gone into many place that have handbag searches, it happens at concerts all the time!
They’re fine shur wasn’t the Garda band on hand
Ya,to make sure you are not smuggling in drink,
It would be her dream to have abortion on demand, how lovely!
Abortion on demand is just one of the scaremongering phrases anti-choice zealots like to bandy about. In reality, abortion is available in countries governed under the rule of law only subject to certain criteria being met. Those vary from the savagely medieval and idiotic in Ireland to quite liberal in most other European countries. The liberal regime in our closest neighbour means that the closest thing to abortion on demand is already available there. All our women are asking is why they have to go to the expense, discomfort and charade of having to go abroad for a routine medical procedure that should be available at home to any woman who wants it.
Don’t worry though. No one will ever force you to have an abortion of you don’t want one.
The choice, that’s what it’s all about!
But no thought about the choice or rights of the person being killed.
What an eejity answer! There are strict penalties in the laws of most countries for killing persons. If you think an embryo, foetus, zygote or whatever you want to call that growing clump of cells in a woman’s womb is a person, why don’t you go to the police and report any woman you suspect of having had an abortion?
Or better still, try to keep your nose out of women’s business when they are making a choice that you will never have to make and which is none of your business.
O Se should be ashamed of himself. He made no effort to shield the girl whatsoever. Some man he is.
I have more respect for the protestor.
Listening to that man on Newstalk just now and he’s not coming across well. Doesn’t seem to understand that storming onstage in this day and age is not on. Security have a lot to answer for. Every child deserves to know/have a relationship with his/her father. Not sure if this guy is on the right track to achieve this though.
It will never detract from the fact that this is the greates show on earth
So what if he had a ticket, because if he didn’t – well, remember sneaking into the circus by going in under the tent? Good times.
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