News In Brief

British, Irish chiefs meet; plans for the North elusive

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Irish counterpart, Garret FitzGerald, restored warm relations at their first meeting in two years, but no initiatives emerged to end the conflict in Northern Ireland.

The meeting marked the end of a two-year period of coolness largely stemming from differences over Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic's harsh criticism last year of Britain's handling of hostilities with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.