Granard, Henry Street and Howth
The year’s central constitutional development came on 2 May, when the New Ireland Forum issued its report. Convened by Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, the Forum had brought together Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fáil and the SDLP to consider how lasting peace and stability might be achieved democratically. Unionist parties had declined to participate, an absence that set clear limits on its reach; nevertheless, the report represented an unusual degree of agreement among constitutional nationalists north and south of the border.