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[Exact time unknown] Dermot Nally handed the Irish draft communique to the British Ambassador on this day.

[Editors' note: Exact time unknown. John Bruton asked to meet the Prime Minister during his visit to London on the 27-28th January 1992.]

[Exact date and time unknown] The Irish and British Governments decided on the size of the delegations for the Joint Declaration Initiative.

[Exact time unknown] JD6 was handed over to the British Government on this day, and circulated.

[Exact time unknown] The conclusions reached in the Butler/Nally meeting of 14 July 1993 were on the table from this point onwards.

[Exact time unknown] Ó hUiginn and Chilcot met for dinner. One of the topics under discussion was the Joint Declaration initiative and its progress, especially in the context of current developments. Chilcot agreed to try and arrange a further Butler/Nally meeting on 4 August 1993. The timings for a summit and a Spring/Mayhew meeting were also discussed without reaching any conclusions.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas met Seán Ó hUiginn informally to discuss JD6. He handed over a text on constitutional issues which, he implied, could also be mined for language to address self-determination in paragraph 4 of the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] David Blatherwick called on Albert Reynolds in the morning. They discussed Northern Ireland, and Reynolds emphasised the importance of securing peace in advance of a political accommodation.

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

[Exact time unknown] The proposals made during the meetings of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the Butler/Nally Group on 10 September 1993 were received.

[Exact time and date unknown] Mansergh had two substantial discussions – one with Chilcot and another with Mayhew – in the margins of the British-Irish Association Conference in Cambridge. The conference took place between 10 and 12 September 1993. We do not know exactly when the meetings took place, so we have modelled them at the end of this period.

[Exact time unknown] Thomas met Ó hUiginn again informally. Ó hUiginn handed over a revised Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD8). Thomas went through it with him, in a personal capacity, and made some suggestions on the language. He also handed over the first British draft of the Framework Document that the Liaison Group had been mandated to produce, for the Irish delegation to consider in advance of the meeting on 1 October 1993.

[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 date and time unknown] Following the publication of the Hume/Adams statement on 25 September 1993, Quentin Thomas discussed it with Seán Ó hUiginn.

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

[Exact time unknown] Dick Spring and Douglas Hurd had a brief exchange on the Hume/Adams talks and the Joint Declaration initiative.

[Exact time unknown] Ó hUiginn and Thomas met in the margins of the Liaison Group, and Ó hUiginn handed over the approved next draft of the Joint Declaration (JD9).

[Exact date and time unknown] At some point between 1 October 1993 and 4 October 1993, Seán Ó hUiginn phoned Quentin Thomas to warn him that the Taoiseach was firmly against the inclusion of any explicit re-statement of the constitutional guarantee, and ask if an oblique reference to it in paragraph 3 would be acceptable.

[Editorial session] The latest Irish draft of the Joint Delegation (JD12) was reported to Quentin Thomas during a phone call with Seán Ó hUiginn. In taking it down, Quentin Thomas accidentally changed the order of the self-determination sentence.

[Exact time unknown] Seán Ó hUiginn and Quentin Thomas had a brief discussion of JD12 in the margins of a Liaison Group meeting. Ó hUiginn was disappointed that a British decision was not more quickly forthcoming. Thomas attempted to push the idea that a more explicit reference to the constitutional guarantee was needed.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas, David Cooke and Seán Ó hUiginn met in the margins of the Liaison Group to discuss John Major's decision not to proceed with the Joint Declaration. Ó hUiginn said that this decision had been very badly received.

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

[Exact time unknown] Dick Spring spoke to Patrick Mayhew. The Tanaiste gave a summary of the Taoiseach's meeting with John Hume and spoke about continued work on the Joint Declaration following meetings with Unionist clergymen.

[Exact time unknown] Seán Ó hUiginn sent a copy of JD13 to Quentin Thomas by special messenger.

[Exact time unknown] Martin Mansergh had lunch with David Blatherwick. They discussed the questions of a 'peace framework', including positions on the Joint Declaration. Mansergh reported that the PIRA had rejected JD12.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas had a phone call with Seán Ó hUiginn. They discussed progress, or lack thereof, on both the Talks and the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] Dick Spring phoned Patrick Mayhew to express his disappointment at the line taken during the Butler/Nally meeting on 10 November 1993. Patrick Mayhew took the position that the Joint Declaration Initiative had not been rejected outright and that the British Government was prepared to take risks to achieve an end to violence.

[Exact time unknown] At the annual DFA dinner for the diplomatic corps, Fergus Finlay told John Dew that the Taoiseach was seriously frustrated with the British attitude to the Joint Declaration initiative.

[Exact time unknown] 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] Roderic Lyne spoke to Martin Mansergh over the phone about the latest version of the Joint Declaration (JD14) and the role of Archbishop Eames.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne spoke to Martin Mansergh to advise caution in the Taoiseach's appearance on the Frost programme on Sunday morning. The Irish Press leak of the Irish draft Framework document was also discussed, and Mansergh reported that JD14 had been shown to John Hume, which worried Lyne.

[Exact time unknown] Martin Mansergh rang David Blatherwick to pass on the Taoiseach's confirmation of his dissatisfaction and anger at the submission of an alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration.

Martin Mansergh phoned Roderic Lyne to complain about possible British briefing of the Telegraph and the leaks of contacts between HMG and PIRA.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne telephoned the Taoiseach's private secretary to ask whether the summit could be announced and was told it could not be.

[Exact time unknown] Seán Ó hUiginn was sent to tell David Blatherwick that the summit would only be on if the Irish Joint Declaration were to be the product of the meeting.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne spoke again to the Taoiseach's private secretary to advise him to reconsider the position advanced by Seán Ó hUiginn to David Blatherwick.

[Exact time unknown] In the early evening, Martin Mansergh phoned Roderic Lyne to discuss the different drafts of the Joint Declaration. They agreed to put two options to their principals – either a working meeting on Friday, or postponement of the Summit.

[Exact time unknown] Further consultation took place, and it was agreed to hold a working meeting on Friday 3 December 1993, subject to approval by the Tanaiste. It was envisaged to hold a further meeting to reach final agreement before Christmas.

[Exact time unknown] Dick Spring met Douglas Hurd to discuss the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] Joseph Small called on John Chilcot to try and convince him of the necessity of movement on the Joint Declaration Initiative. He also warned him that the revelation of contacts between the British government and the PIRA had caused a lot of anger in Dublin.

[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] Martin Mansergh telephoned Roderic Lyne to discuss the Joint Declaration. Both sides reported on the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach's attitudes to amendments on the table, and further amendments were signalled.

[Exact time unknown] Robin Butler met with Martin Mansergh to discuss the working text of the Joint Declaration and exchange amendments.

Roderic Lyne met with Martin Mansergh, Noel Dorr and Seán Ó hUiginn to discuss the Joint Declaration and various proposals of amendment.

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne met with Martin Mansergh, Seán Ó hUiginn, and Noel Dorr to continue the conversation of the previous day on the Joint Declaration. The atmosphere was increasingly hostile and unproductive.

[Exact time unknown] Final drafts of the declaration were exchanged.