Editing Liam Cosgrave (section)

===Northern Ireland===
The Government signed the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] in December 1973, an attempt to resolve political troubles in Northern Ireland. A power-sharing executive was set up and a Council of Ireland was to be established. The institutions established under the Agreement collapsed in May 1974 as a consequence of the [[Ulster Workers' Council Strike]]. In addition, many [[Irish Republicanism|Republican]] voters were angered by what they saw as Cosgrave's harsh line on the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] and the handling of the [[Dublin and Monaghan Bombings]].

The 2003 Barron report on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings noted that the Fine Gael/Labour government of the time "showed little interest in the bombings" and did not do enough to help the investigation.<ref name="barron275-276">Barron Report (2003), pp.275–276</ref> "When information was given to them suggesting that the British authorities had intelligence naming the bombers, this was not followed up".<ref name="barron275-276"/> It failed to put political pressure on the British government to secure better co-operation from the RUC. It was also alleged that the Fine Gael/Labour government caused or allowed the Garda investigation to end prematurely, for fear that the findings would play into the hands of republicans.<ref>Barron Report (2003), p.125</ref> However, the Inquiry had insufficient evidence the investigation was stopped as a result of political interference.<ref name="barron275-276"/>

Both ''[[The Irish Times]]'' and the ''[[Irish Press]]'', which was edited by [[Tim Pat Coogan]], were extremely critical of the government's curtailment of freedom of speech and in particular of the [[Minister for Posts and Telegraphs]], [[Conor Cruise O'Brien]] which was used against the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]]. Coogan declared what he dubbed "editorial war" on the government after a, now notorious, interview between Bernard Nossiter of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and O'Brien in August 1976 regarding the passage of the Emergency Powers Bill. During the course of the interview, O'Brien stated that he would've liked the bill to be used against teachers who glorified Irish revolutionaries and against newspaper editors who published letters in support of Republicans.<ref>{{cite book|title=The I.R.A.|first=Tim Pat|last=Coogan|pages=421–422}}</ref> The coalition attempted to prosecute ''The Irish Press'' for its coverage of the maltreatment of republican prisoners by the [[Garda Síochána#Allegations involving abuse of powers|Garda "Heavy Gang"]], with the paper winning the case.<ref>{{cite book|first=Tim Pat|last=Coogan|title=The troubles: Ireland's ordeal, 1966–1996, and the search for peace|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|year=2002|page=380}}</ref> Cosgrave was accused of taking an anti-republican or pro-unionist line on Northern Ireland.