Reagan, O’Neill Hail Agreement, Promise Help

Two Irish-American politicians, President Reagan and House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr., Friday praised the new London-Dublin agreement on Northern Ireland and promised to provide “tangible” support--probably foreign aid--to help bring peace to the embattled British province.

The Republican President invited the Massachusetts Democrat to the White House to demonstrate bipartisan support for the pact signed earlier in the day by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald.

“We’re delighted that this has come about, and we hope that, in a bipartisan way, that we can go forward with anything we can do to help . . . in restoring sound economics there,” Reagan said as O’Neill beamed by his side and a fire crackled in the Oval Office fireplace.

“I speak for the House, Mr. President: Any means that we can use in the Congress of the United States to help bring peace in Northern Ireland, I assure you that we’ll have the full cooperation of the Congress,” said O’Neill, previously a harsh critic of British policy in Northern Ireland.

The pact would give the predominantly Roman Catholic Irish Republic an important advisory role in Northern Ireland, the predominantly Protestant province that recognizes British sovereignty.

Denounced by Militants

The agreement was denounced by Northern Ireland’s militant Protestants who called it a sellout to the Catholics in the South and by the outlawed Irish Republican Army, which said it does not go far enough in meeting the grievances of Northern Ireland’s minority Catholics.

Both Reagan and O’Neill praised Thatcher and FitzGerald for their “courage” in signing the agreement.

Reagan, in a written statement issued after his brief meeting with O’Neill, noted: “Given the complex situation in Northern Ireland, all may not applaud this agreement.”

But the President promised to “join this important endeavor.”

To underline his effort to avoid U.S. partisan divisions, Reagan quoted his predecessor, former President Jimmy Carter, who said in 1977, “In the event of a settlement, the U.S. government would be prepared to join with others to see how additional job-creating investment could be encouraged, to the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland.”

O’Neill, in a written statement, pledged to support legislation to provide “appropriate financial and economic assistance.”

Although no specific plans were announced, Reuters news agency quoted an Administration official as predicting a “mini-Marshall Plan” of tens of millions of dollars in aid.