ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of Ulster unionism and British Conservatism and examines how unionists and Conservatives perceived the provisions and purpose of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. It seems appropriate to do this since there has been a general and mutual incomprehension. The generality of the Conservative Party found it difficult to understand the extent of unionist hostility to that agreement. The generality of unionists believed that the signing of the agreement by a Conservative government (especially one led by Margaret Thatcher) was a gross betrayal. The chapter outlines the distinctive characteristics of unionism and Conservatism and the extent to which these characteristics correspond with each other or diverge. Attention is paid to the way in which the Anglo-Irish Agreement evolved amid the priorities of the Thatcher government. These priorities are assessed in the light of assumptions which I have based on readings of Carl Schmitt’s The Concept of the Political and Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man. 1 The appropriateness of this reading perhaps requires some initial justification.
