Office of the Strand 1 Chairman (British Government Delegation)

In order to adequately reflect the role of the Chairman and his staff in re-drafting documents and controlling the flow of information during bilateral negotiations, we are representing them as a separate committee. In contrast to other Quill negotiations, in these Talks much of the actual work of negotiation and making proposals took place in bilateral meetings between the Chairman and the party delegations. The minutes of these sessions have been preserved in the same format as the minutes of the plenary sessions, and the sessions are modelled from the minutes as separate Committees (British Government/Alliance Bilaterals, etc.). The Chairman would move between these meetings, reporting on the positions of the other delegations and trying to reach accommodation. It is beyond the scope of the current project to model all the internal government meetings which took place during the Talks (although documentation for at least some of them exists in the National Archives), but we can draw on evidence within the sources we are using to show that proposals and agendas for the bilaterals were agreed within the Government team. For example, in a particular round of meetings, the Chairman will open the meeting with a near-identical agenda and summary of the current position of the other parties. To adequately model the fact that the flow of ideas between the delegations was filtered by the Chairman in this way, we have set up a committee called the 'Office of the Chairman' to show the conclusions of each bilateral discussion passing through the Chairman's Office and being redrafted before being passed on to the next delegation.

Northern Ireland Brooke/Mayhew Talks 1991-1992

IN THE FINAL STAGES OF EDITING A series of talks launched by Peter Brooke, Secretary of State for Northern in Ireland, which began in April 1991, and were carried on intermittently by Brooke and his successor, Patrick Mayhew, until November 1992.

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Sessions (47)

Meeting to draw up the agenda for preliminary round of bilateral meetings. We do not have the records of this particular session, but it is used to represent the origin of the agenda for the forthcoming meetings.

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Conclusions from bilateral meetings on 7 May and 8 May are considered and compiled by the Chairman before being presented to the other delegations.

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Conclusions from bilateral meetings on 7 May and 8 May are considered and compiled by the Chairman before being presented to the other delegations.

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5, 9,

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Conclusions from bilateral meetings on 9 May are considered and compiled by the Chairman before being presented to the other delegations.

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This is session is created to take receipt of the Joint Unionist Press Statement on Friday 10 May.

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The Government team issues a proposal which is discussed with the SDLP and Alliance parties on 14 May. Communication with the Unionist delegation also take place but we have no minuted notes of a formal meeting with the delegation.

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Resumption of formal bilaterals with the three delegations after the delay in the Unionist delegation accepting the government proposal of 14 May and the fall-out from their meeting with the Prime Minister on 15 May.

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Bilateral meetings were held with the Unionists in order to redraft their position paper.

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The Joint Unionist Position Paper of 21 May has been completed. The Secretary of State now seeks to resolve outstandig issues concerning the venue for Strand 2 and the terms of reference for the independent chairman. The identity of the chairman is considered to be a matter for the two governments.

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Creation of the draft Workplan ahead of the sub-plenary meeting

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Creation of the statement on staffing; follow up meetings with the Unionist and Alliance delegations.

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The Government Team draws up a checklist based on discussions of Workplan Item 6.

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A session to represent the General Election which saw a changeover in power from Peter Brooke to Patrick Mayhew as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and from Brian Mawhinney to Jeremy Hanley as Minister of State.

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Invitations and letters are issued to the party delegations ahead of the new talks.

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The paper Political Talks: Realities and Common Themes is redrafted and circulated.

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Briefing for the Government Team at 0930 ahead of the plenary meeting, followed by a debrief at the end of the day.

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Preparation of a paper to be discussed at the Sub-Committee Meeting.

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Wash up meeting between various officials and the Secretary of State to discuss if and when the Prime Minister should be involved in the Talks.

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Stock take after sub-Committee meetings on 2 June.

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A number of Government papers are created on this date and circulated to the delegates ahead of the sub-Committee meetings. These are modelled as originating from the Office of the Chairman.

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Proposals to write papers for the sub-Committee are received by the Talks Secretariat.

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Papers continue to be prepared as a basis for discussion in the Sub-Committee.

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Papers and reports on the work of the Sub-Committee are shown passing in and out of the Office of the Chairman

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This session shows the drafting of the sub-committee reports.

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Meeting of the Secretary of State and officials to try to secure transition to Strand II.

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Consultations regarding transition to Strands II and III.

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An extensive briefing document is prepared ahead of the Strands 2 and 3 agenda-setting meetings.

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The Secretary of State exchanges letters with Dr Paisley prior to the Strand 2 agenda-setting meeting.

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A government paper on possible changes to the Anglo-Irish Agreement is circulated to members of the British Government delegation.

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The Secretary of State receives a reply from Dr Paisley. David Blatherwick, Graham Archer and David Hill all submit responses to Bryony Lodge's 'Successor to the Agreement' paper.

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Peter Bell, David Fell and Derek Hill all submit responses to Bryony Lodge's 'Successor to the Agreement' paper.

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David Hill prepares a briefing document for the Secretary of State, including a possible announcement to Plenary of the launch of Strands 2 and 3.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the DUP.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the Alliance Party.

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Conclusions of bilaterals with the DUP, Irish Officials, and the SDLP.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the Alliance Party.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the SDLP.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the SDLP.

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Conclusions of a bilateral with the Alliance Party.

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Conclusions of a bilateral between the Secretary of State and the Unionist leaders.

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Conclusions of a meeting between the Secretary of State, Independent Chairman, and the party leaders. Also the further development of a draft joint statement between participants.

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Documents from the plenary session of the day.

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