Today in 1985, Britain and the Republic of Ireland signed a deal giving Dublin a role in Northern Ireland for the first time in more than 60 years.  It set up a framework for regular conferences between British and Irish ministers to discuss matters affecting Northern Ireland.  However, if a devolved government were to be established in Northern Ireland, matters transferred to its power would no no longer fall under the remit of the conferences.  No deal accepted by all sides was reached until the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, which created the Northern Ireland Assembly and new cross-border institutions.