[Exact date and time unknown] Tom King received Father Reid's letter encouraging meetings with Sinn Féin.

[Exact time unknown] Ian Burns wrote to Jonathan Stephens concerning the communications between John McConnell and Father Alec Reid.

Peter Brooke replaced Tom King as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Peter Brooke met with John Blelloch, Jonathan Stephens, R. O. Miles, John Deverell, John McConnell and Jim Daniell to discuss John McConnell's minute of a discussion with Alec Reid on 14 August 1989 and to agree a protocol for future meetings between the two.

[Exact time unknown] R. O. Miles wrote to Mr Daniell concerning the violence in Northern Ireland, de-colonisation, and discussions between Alec Reid and John McConnell

[Exact time unknown] John Blelloch wrote about the brief prepared for John McConnell's meeting with Alec Reid and a paper on security policy.

[Exact time unknown] A.W. Stephens wrote to Ian Burns about the PIRA and the armed struggle.

[Exact time unknown] John Blelloch wrote a memo reflecting on the latest McConnell-Reid meeting. In it he suggests the inevitability of recognising Sinn Féin as part of any ceasefire arrangement.

[Exact time unknown] An internal meeting was held in the evening to discuss Father Reid's contacts with John McConnell.

[Exact date and time unknown] Ian Burns circulated the papers received from John Hume to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke and to other members of the Northern Ireland Office.

A memo from Miles to Burns reviewed the Reid-Murray proposals.

[Exact time unknown] Ian Burns initiated a discussion on how to respond to Father Reid's suggestion that John McConnell could meet Gerry Adams in Armagh with Cardinal Ó Fiaich.

[Exact time unknown] John Blelloch and the Secretary of State responded to Ian Burns's request for guidance on responding to Father Reid.

[Exact time unknown] A final draft of the Whitbread Speech was circulated. The speech is shown as being referred out as we know it was shared in advance with members of the Republican movement.

[Exact time unknown]Peter Brooke delivered the Whitbread speech, declaring that the British Government had "no selfish strategic or economic interest" in Northern Ireland.

[Exact time unknown] Danny McNeil provided a briefing on 'Political Movement and the Provisionals'.

Peter Brooke gave a speech to the House of Commons launching the three-stranded talks.

This session has been modelled to record the creation of the British draft of the joint communiqué, enclosed in Richard Gozney's letter dated 2 December 1991.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall briefs John Major for his meeting with Charles Haughey on 4 December 1991.

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Margetts provides a separate briefing on Northern Ireland for John Major's meeting with Charles Haughey.

[Exact time unknown] David Blatherwick sends a fax briefing for John Major's meeting with Charles Haughey in Dublin.

[Exact time unknown] Richard Gozney commented on the Irish draft communique for the meeting between John Major and Charles Haughey.

[Editors' note: This session has been created to model the amendments in the joint communique that was released on 4 December 1991, following the plenary meeting between John Major and Charles Haughey. The drafts are all undated, but since the original Irish draft communique is dated 3 December 1991, these revisions are presumed to have occurred between 3 and 4 December 1991.]

[Editors' note: This session has been created to model the amendments in John Major's opening statement for the Dublin press conference on 4 December 1991, following the plenary meeting between Major and Charles Haughey. Though the drafts are all undated, the nature of the revisions suggests they were made post the meeting, thus provisionally dated as 4 December 1991.]

[Editors' note: This session has been created to model the amendments in the notes for supplementaries on Northern Ireland, drafted for John Major's reference for the Dublin press conference on 4 December 1991, following the plenary meeting between Major and Charles Haughey. Though the drafts are all undated, the nature of the revisions suggests they were made post the meeting, thus provisionally dated as 4 December 1991.]

[Editors' note: This session has been created to model the amendments in the lines prepared for John Major regarding the bombing in Belfast on 4 December 1991].

[Exact time unknown] Peter Brooke wrote to Kenneth Baker, seeking his input on Brooke's proposal on the examination of the speciality law within the framework of Working Group II.

[Exact time unknown] Kenneth Baker replied to Peter Brooke's proposal on the joint examination of the speciality rule from 16 December 1991.

[Exact time unknown] PIRA announces a ceasefire for 72 hours, between 24 and 26 December 1991.

[Exact time unknown] Robin Butler writes to Stephen Wall recording his meeting with Dermot Nally and proposing how to proceed further.

[Exact time unknown] Antony Pawson writes to Stephen Wall about the Christmas ceasefire announcement, enclosing a briefing about the line to take for his call with Charles Haughey and the statement prepared in response to the PIRA statement.

[Editors' note: This session has been created to model the release of the British Government's response to the PIRA statement.]

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall briefed John Major for his call with Charles Haughey at 10 am.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall sent a handwritten note to John Major regarding the size of the Irish delegation for the Joint Declaration Initiative.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall wrote to Robin Butler with John Major's view on expanding the size of the Irish delegation for the Joint Declaration Initiative.

[Editors' Note: Exact time unknown. Anthony Pawson and Stephen Wall discussed the membership of the Joint Declaration negotiation teams.]

[Editors' Note: Exact time unknown. Christopher Prentice provided a briefing for John Major's meeting with John Bruton.]

[Exact time unknown] Robin Butler wrote to Stephen Wall attaching a copy of a draft Irish declaration with a commentary by the Northern Ireland Office.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall wrote to John Major, recommending that Major reject JD2.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall informed Robin Butler of instructions from John Major for his meeting with Dermot Nally.

[Exact time unknown] Richard Gozney wrote to Stephen Wall, enclosing David Blatherwick's dispatch from Dublin on the situation in the Republic of Ireland.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall briefed John Major briefing about the next Anglo-Irish Summit, scheduled for 26 February 1992.

[Exact time unknown] William Fittall wrote to Stephen Wall about the Joint Declaration Initiative in advance of the meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds. The letter enclosed JD3 and a briefing on the Joint Declaration for Major's reference.

[Exact time unknown] David Blatherwick sent a message to the British Government, recording the pointers given to him by Dermot Nally in preparation for the Anglo-Irish Summit on 26 February 1992.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall prepared a brief for John Major for his meeting with Albert Reynolds on 26 February 1992.

[Exact time unknown] David Blatherwick sent a brief to the British Government in advance of the Prime Minister's meeting with the Taoiseach.

[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew replaced Peter Brooke as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

[Exact time unknown] Christopher Prentice sent a letter to Stephen Wall about the next Anglo-Irish Meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall wrote a briefing note with a background outline on the Anglo-Irish Summit scheduled for 25 September 1992.

[Exact time unknown] Stephen Wall sent a brief to John Major for his meeting with Albert Reynolds on 25 September 1992.

[Exact day and time unknown] The British delegation prepared a speaking note with the points to cover in the meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds for their meeting on 25 September 1992.

[Exact time unknown] William Fittall sent a letter to Stephen Wall with an attached background note on political developments and other topics of relevance for John Major's meeting with Albert Reynolds on 25 September 1992.

Patrick Mayhew gave a speech titled "Culture and Identity" at the Centre for the Study of Conflict at the University of Ulster at Coleraine.

David Blatherwick wrote to the British Government regarding the press reaction to Gerry Adams's response to Patrick Mayhew's speech on December 16 1992.

[Exact time unknown] John Sawers sent a report on the meeting that took place between Patrick Mayhew and James Bolger on 12 March 1993.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne sent a note to William Fittall on some questions John Major would like Patrick Mayhew to bring up in the next NI Committee meeting on 15 April 1993.

[Exact time unknown] Butler forwarded JD6 and the accompanying Irish Government aide-mémoire to other members of the British Government delegation, along with a letter recording the details of his meeting with the Taoiseach.

[Exact time unknown] The Northern Ireland Office produced a commentary on JD6 and the accompanying Irish government aide-mémoire.

[Exact date and time unknown] At a meeting held at lunchtime on 14 July 1993, the British delegation handed over a document to the Irish delegation containing ten principles regarding their policy in Northern Ireland. We have modelled this being created on the day that it was referred.

[Exact time unknown] The British delegation received the documents circulated and conclusions reached during the Butler/Nally lunchtime meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Chilcot and Mayhew met for about an hour. One of the things under discussion was the Joint Declaration initiative.

After the Butler/Nally meeting, the British delegation received the resolution to negotiate on JD6 as an Irish Government proposal.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas wrote some draft text on constitutional issues aimed at mining for changes to JD6. He handed it over to Seán Ó hUiginn at an informal bilateral meeting on 1 September 1993.

[Editorial session] The British Government delegation received the conclusions of the informal bilateral meeting between Thomas and Ó hUiginn.

[Editorial session] Reynolds sent a letter to Major, which was circulated.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne sent a letter to Robin Butler enclosing the Taoiseach's letter to the Prime Minister and requesting a draft response from John Chilcot.

[Exact time unknown] The British Government made connected proposals to the Anglo-Irish Conference and the Butler/Nally group which were designed to allow them to refine the language of JD6 in the context of Strand 3 of the Talks, whilst also producing a Framework Paper which would indicate to the Unionists they had taken on board their request for a Heads of Agreement document. We do not currently have an internal record of these proposals, so we have created them on the day they were put to the Irish delegations.

[Exact time unknown] The British proposal made to the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was reported back as amended and agreed.

[Exact time unknown] Chilcot wrote a draft reply for Major to send to Reynolds.

[Exact time unknown] Thomas handed over the first British draft of the Framework Document to Ó hUiginn. Major replied to Reynolds' letter of 7 September 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The British delegation received a report of the informal meeting between Thomas and Ó hUiginn, including the revised Irish version of the Joint Declaration (JD8) and a further revision of paragraph 4 worked up during the meeting on an informal basis.

[Exact time unknown] The second Hume-Adams statement was issued on 25 September 1993. It announced that their discussions had made further progress and that they had put a proposal to Dublin. This session has been created to show the statement being received.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas drafted a letter to Roderic Lyne which included a record of his meeting with Ó hUiginn on 24 September 1993, a copy of JD8 which was handed over during the meeting, and his comments on JD8. It also included a possible British version of paragraph 4 which might or might not be shown to the Irish delegation. This letter was amended and sent. A set of lines to take on Hume/Adams was also established.

[Exact time unknown] Ó hUiginn telephoned Thomas to convey an updated version of paragraph 4.

[Exact time unknown] Tony Beeton wrote to Quentin Thomas and Jonathan Stephens enclosing a speaking note for a meeting between Patrick Mayhew and John Major and notes on the text of JD8. Quentin Thomas forwarded the briefing to Robin Butler.

[Exact time unknown] John Major and Patrick Mayhew met in the margins of the Northern Ireland committee to discuss the Joint Declaration Initiative and ways of taking it forward.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the Liaison Group meeting were received, along with the next Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD9) and the conclusions of the bilateral meeting between Quentin Thomas and Seán Ó hUiginn.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas wrote to Tony Beeton regarding the need for two papers: one giving the background to the Joint Declaration initiative and one giving an overall assessment of it. He enclosed a first outline of the latter.

[Exact time unknown] Watkins wrote a minute to Quinn following the Liaison Group meeting on 1 October 1993 providing for further work to be done in advance of the next meeting. Tony Beeton drafted a letter to Roderic Lyne enclosing the briefing material for John Major's upcoming meeting with Jim Molyneaux. Patrick Mayhew received several documents for his upcoming interview with the Sunday Telegraph.

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens wrote to Roderic Lyne enclosing a speaking note for John Major's use during a meeting scheduled with Jim Molyneaux during the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool.

[Exact time unknown] During the Butler/Nally meeting on 6 October 1993, Robin Butler put proposals to the Irish delegation which originated in a ministerial meeting on 30 September 1993 and were further refined by Quentin Thomas in his briefing material for the meeting, following his own informal bilateral discussion with Seán Ó hUiginn.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas reported back the version of the text which was agreed ad referendum, with some pending amendments, during the Butler-Nally meeting on 6 October 1993 (JD11). He also made some suggestions of his own about what Irish amendments to the text might look like, which caused the versions of JD11 in both Government committees to diverge slightly.

[Editorial session] Quentin Thomas reported back the latest Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD12), which he had had over the phone from Ó hUiginn. In taking it down, he had accidentally reordered the sentence on self-determination, so the British JD12 at this point diverged slightly from the Irish draft. David Cooke also sent Jonathan Stephens a set of documents for the Prime Minister's use in a meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Tony Beeton submitted a draft of a background brief on the Joint Declaration initiative. He also submitted a copy of a draft on the historical background of the Joint Declaration, although David Cooke had decided not to include this alongside a proposed minute and a list of key considerations about the joint declaration in a briefing package for a meeting on 14th October 1993.

[Exact time unknown] John Chilcot and Patrick Mayhew discussed the Joint Declaration and amended David Cooke's proposed wording for an amendment to paragraph 4. The minute to John Major recommending next steps was sent, with a final version of the British proposed amendment to paragraph 4 of JD12.

[Exact time unknown] Cooke wrote a message addressing the second point of Watkins' minute of 1 October 1993. Tony Beeton wrote to Jonathan Stephens enclosing several documents regarding a meeting with the Prime Minister. David Fell met the journalist Eamonn Mallie for lunch.

[Exact time unknown] John Major and Patrick Mayhew met to discuss the Joint Declaration initiative.

[Exact time unknown] A ministerial briefing meeting on the Joint Declaration was held in the late afternoon.

[Exact time unknown]

[Exact time unknown] A ministerial meeting was held in the morning to discuss the Joint Declaration initiative. It was agreed that a reference to the constitutional guarantee was necessary, and that the text should be put to Molyneaux that afternoon.

[Exact time unknown] Various briefing documents were produced in advance of John Major's meeting with Jim Molyneaux.

[Exact time unknown] Briefing material was created for a meeting between Robin Butler and Albert Reynolds. The British Government were refusing to proceed on the basis of JD12.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas prepared a paper assessing the possible Unionist reaction to the Joint Declaration Initiative, which would be shown to Albert Reynolds alongside the sanitised assessment of the PIRA attitude to it. John Major wrote a manuscript letter to Albert Reynolds indicating his decision not to proceed with JD12.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas prepared a handling plan for the upcoming IGC in light of the fallout caused by the British Government rejection of the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] Various material was produced in advance of the meeting between Albert Reynolds and John Major on 29 October 1993.

[Exact time unknown] Various material was produced in advance of the meeting between Albert Reynolds and John Major on 29 October 1993.

[Exact time unknown] Versions of the statement issuing from the 29 October 1993 meeting between Albert Reynolds and John Major in Brussels continued to be exchanged.

[Exact date and time unknown: editorial session] John Major and Albert Reynolds issued a Joint Statement.

[Exact time unknown] Draft paragraphs on Northern Ireland were submitted for inclusion in John Major's planned speech to the House on 1 November 1993, which would focus on the European Summit in Brussels on 29 October 1993 and on his meeting with Albert Reynolds in the margins of it.

[Exact time unknown] A revised draft for Prime Minister's statement to the House on the European Council and on Northern Ireland was submitted, and the statement was made. Quentin Thomas submitted a briefing pack for a meeting between John Hume and either John Major or Patrick Mayhew.

[Exact time unknown] Briefing material was prepared for a meeting between John Major and John Hume on 4 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The possibility of constructing an alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration was discussed.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas briefed Robin Butler and Jonathan Stephens on the upcoming Butler/Nally meeting scheduled for 10 November 1993. David Cooke submitted supplementary briefing material for John Major for his meetings with Molyneaux and Paisley on 9 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas submitted the first draft of an alternative British version of the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas reported JD13, and prepared a paper analysing its contents.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas reported back on the Butler/Nally meeting on 10 November 1993 and outlined suggested next steps. He also reported his phone call with Ó hUiginn. Drafts of a letter to Reynolds from Major were written, but the letter was not sent because Major received a letter from Reynolds first, protesting British refusal to engage with the Joint Declaration Initiative. A draft passage on Northern Ireland for the Lord Mayor's Banquet Speech was also submitted.

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens sent a letter to Roderic Lyne including an assessment of the present position and next steps on the Joint Declaration Initiative. Attached at Annex B was an updated version of the Alternative British Draft of the Joint Declaration (12 November Draft).

[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew handed over a copy of JD13 to Archbishop Eames for him to propose further amendments to to the Taoiseach.

[Exact time unknown] A paper was submitted outlining objections to JD13 from a Unionist perspective, and specifically to Archbishop Eames' additions. Roderic Lyne sent a letter to Martin Mansergh enclosing a statement on Northern Ireland that the Prime Minister intended to deliver as part of his speech to the Lord Mayor's banquet.

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens reported back the amendments to JD13 that Eames had indicated over the phone. These amendments were reportedly slightly differently from how they had been made by Eames and the Irish Government to produce what was handed over on 18 November 1993 as JD14. Briefing material was also produced for the upcoming meeting between John Major and Jim Molyneaux.

An informal Ministerial meeting on Northern Ireland was held between John Major, Patrick Mayhew, Douglas Hurd, John Chilcot and Robin Butler. It was agreed to seriously consider putting forward an alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration. The current draft was discussed, amendments were made, and it was decided that the NIO would write up a further draft based on those amendments.

[Exact time unknown] David Cooke submitted an updated version of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration, based on the amendments made during the informal Northern Ireland Ministerial meeting on 17 November 1993. This updated version was shown to Archbishop Robin Eames during John Major's bilateral meeting with him later in the day.]

[Exact time unknown] Following a bilateral meeting with Archbishop Robin Eames, JD14 and an amendment proposed to it by Jim Molyneaux were reported back by the British government delegation.

[Exact time unknown] On the morning of 19 November 1993, the Irish Press published the Irish draft of the framework document that had been promised to the British government but not provided.

[Exact time unknown] A ministerial meeting was held on Northern Ireland. It was ultimately decided to sound out Molyneaux's views on the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration, and then to put it to the Irish Government in place of their own current draft (JD14).

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens wrote to Roderic Lyne enclosing the work commissioned at the Ministerial meeting earlier in the day. This included a further draft of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration; a commentary on that draft; a speaking note for the Prime Minister to use in his meeting with Mr Molyneaux; a draft letter for the Prime Minister to send to the Taoiseach; a speaking note for Sir Robin Butler to use during handover of the letter and the alternative draft; and the article in the "Irish Press" of 19 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The alternative British draft was shared with Jim Molyneaux during a bilateral meeting with Patrick Mayhew.

[Exact time unknown] The British Government received Molyneaux's comments on the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration and the draft was updated to reflect them. The letter from John Major to Albert Reynolds and the speaking note for Roderic Lyne were also updated.

[Exact time unknown] Albert Reynolds sent a letter to John Major expressing his disappointment and anger at the submission of an alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration. Quentin Thomas submitted a possible draft of a unilateral British government declaration.

An internal British government meeting was held to plan next steps with the Irish government on the JDI.

[Exact time unknown] During a bilateral meeting with Jim Molyneaux later in the day, Michael Ancram tabled a version of JD14 which incorporated Molyneaux's previous amendment and also the addition of language about the constitutional guarantee which the British government had previously included in JD12A. During a bilateral meeting with Robin Eames, Chris Maccabe showed him the 25 November alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] A copy of JD14 as amended to be shown to Molyneaux was reported back to the British government. With some further amendments, this became JD14A.

[Exact time unknown] Lyne reported to Major that the two options he had discussed with Martin Mansergh were a working meeting or postponement. Major preferred the former option.

[Exact time unknown] Further amendments were made to JD14 as shown to and amended by Jim Molyneaux during a bilateral meeting on 30 November 1993 to produce JD14A.

[Exact time unknown] A letter from John Hume expressing concern at the possible loss of an opportunity for peace was handed over to John Major in the House of Commons. Extensive briefing material was submitted for the Anglo-Irish summit on 3 December 1993.

[Exact date and time unknown; editorial session] From this point onwards, the amendments to JD14 were under consideration.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the Anglo-Irish Summit were formally reported back to the British government delegation.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas submitted briefing material in advance of a Butler/Nally meeting on 7 December 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions reached in the Butler/Nally meeting of 7 December 1993 were on the table from this point onwards.

[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew sent briefing material, including further recommended amendments to the Joint Declaration, in advance of a Ministerial meeting scheduled for the following day.

[Exact time unknown] An Irish suggestion to make the Joint Declaration on Tuesday 14 December 1993 was reported back to the British government.

[Exact time unknown] David Cooke produced a first draft of the briefing material for John Major in Brussels on 10 and 11 December 1993. This was based – optimistically, as he noted – on the idea that they would be agreed on the text of a declaration by that point, which did not turn out to be the case.

The Prime Minister held a ministerial meeting to discuss the Joint Declaration initiative. Various items of work were commissioned.

[Exact time unknown] Michael Ancram reported back two amendments from his non-meeting with Jim Molyneaux. Nicholas Lyell, the attorney general, wrote to John Major with his comments on the legal ramifications of certain phrases in JD15.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the meeting between Martin Mansergh and Robin Butler were reported back to the British government delegation. Briefing material was then produced in advance of the meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds in the margins of the EC Summit on 10/11 December 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The version of the Joint Declaration negotiated between Irish and British officials earlier in the day was reported back by Roderic Lyne, along with his record of the meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne reported the discussion on 11 December 1993 back to the British delegation. There was also an exchange of memos between various members of the NIO and the Cabinet about the relative importance of the 'as of right' clause.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the first Butler/Nally conversation of the day were reported back to the British government delegation.

[Exact time unknown] A ministerial meeting was held to discuss the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the Butler/Nally meeting at 15.45 were reported back to the British Government.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions of the 18.00 conversation between Dermot Nally and Robin Butler were reported back to the British government.

Roderic Lyne planned to hold a meeting between himself, Robin Butler and John Major to finalise the British government delegation's position before Major's call with Albert Reynolds. We do not have a record of this meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne reported amendments to the Joint Declaration to John Major.