Boris Johnson called for ‘hard egg’ approach to Northern Ireland peace process, document reveals

‘He claimed the IRA were in 1994 at the point of defeat’

Boris Johnson urged the Irish government to adopt a “hard egg” approach during the Northern Ireland peace process and “let the nationalists go to hell”, newly declassified documents show.

The former prime minister claimed the IRA had been close to defeat in 1994 and that the British would “beat them eventually”.

A confidential Irish government document from 1996 details a “slightly surreal” discussion between an Irish official and Mr Johnson, who was then deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph newspaper.