Secret plan for Irish unity is alleged by British MP

A hard-line Protestant member of Parliament says that US, British, and Irish officials are secretly working to unify Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland into one state that would then join NATO as a strategic defense link.

Enoch Powell's allegation came after visits to London and Dublin by US Deputy Secretary of State William Clark, who held talks on the Northern Ireland conflict in both capitals. Mr. Powell has taken up the cause of Northern Ireland's Protestants.

The Irish Republic does not belong to the Western alliance, and a spokesman for Britain's Northern Ireland Office denied Powell's claim.