Word: whitelaw
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EVERYBODY likes Willie," said a friend when William Whitelaw was named Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. "Even the grottiest Irishman should warm to him in time." Big, breezy Whitelaw, who turns 54 this week, brought to his daunting task a large measure of personal charm and warmth. In the words of an admiring aide: "He radiates good will, patience, impartiality, but underneath, he's a very cunning man-it's an ideal mix." If peace is finally achieved in Northern Ireland, the credit will belong largely to the man who, as a Catholic politician recently...
They were prepared to dislike Whitelaw. "It used to be axiomatic in making postings that you never sent a nice officer to an Irish regiment," recalled an M.P. recently during a Commons debate on Ulster. Whitelaw, moreover, was a man of the Establishment who had been to Winchester and Cambridge, had soldiered with honor in the Scots Guards, and had gone on to Parliament. Little known outside the Commons, Whitelaw became the leader of the Tories' liberal wing on almost every issue from Rhodesia to labor relations. He also was influential in persuading Prime Minister Heath to institute direct...
...Whitelaw's tough line with the I.R.A. helped him in talking down the U.D.A. A masked U.D.A. spokesman announced that the U.D.A. was holding off on action for 14 days "to give Whitelaw and the minority a chance." Meanwhile moderate Catholic M.P.s of the opposition Social Democratic and Labor Party said that they were now ready to break their own boycott on talking to Whitelaw...
Encouraged, Whitelaw announced that Britain would push ahead with local elections this fall under a system favoring the moderate center. Also, he would open "talks about talks" leading to a July conference of all shades of Ulster opinion-except the gunmen...
Although both the I.R.A. and the U.D.A. were clearly under pressure from the peacemakers, there was still the chance of sectarian conflict erupting again. But meanwhile, British officials pondered ways of negotiating an end to the no-go barricades. Whitelaw was as usual unabashed by the task, even if he chose a harsh simile to express his confidence. As he said last week, quoting an Irishman: "There are more ways of killing a pig than cutting its throat...