British-Molyneaux Bilaterals

This committee has been created to model bilateral contacts between James Molyneaux and the British government.

Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)

This project models the series of formal and informal negotiations which led to the publication, in December 1993, of a declaration issued jointly by the British and Irish Governments. The Joint Declaration was a critical policy document which paved the way for a ceasefire and the entry of Sinn Féin into formal talks. It also laid out a shared set of principles – including, crucially, self-determination for the people of Ireland subject to the consent of the people of Northern Ireland – which would come to underpin the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and provide a framework for its ratification.

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Sessions (16)

[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.

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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew telephoned Jim Molyneaux to discuss recent developments following Ian Paisley's meeting with Michael Ancram.

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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew and Jim Molyneaux met again in person, at Molyneaux's request, to discuss his concerns about Unionist grassroots opinion following his meeting with his party officers.

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[Exact date and time unknown] John Major was scheduled to meet with Jim Molyneaux during the Conservative Party conference in Blackpool, to reassure him about the British Government's position in the wake of Hume/Adams démarche and the media attention it was receiving.

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[Exact time unknown] John Major met with Jim Molyneaux in the afternoon to brief him, on a privy council basis, on the Joint Declaration. He was shown an intelligence assessment and the text of JD12A. His assessment of the initiative was overwhelmingly negative.

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[Exact time unknown] Jim Molyneaux met with John Major to discuss the recent joint statement, Hume/Adams, and a potential cessation of violence.

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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew spoke to Jim Molyneaux over the phone to discuss the leak of the Irish draft framework paper.

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[Exact time unknown] John Major and Jim Molyneaux had a phone conversation on the evening of 20 November 1993. They discussed the Hume/Adams Statement and the Irish draft framework document leak.

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[Exact time unknown] John Major met with Jim Molyneaux to discuss an alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration.

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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew met with Jim Molyneaux in order to show him the text of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration. Molyneaux indicated that he would acquiesce in it subject to several small amendments.

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Jim Molyneaux met with Michael Ancram and John Major for nearly an hour at the House of Commons. They discussed the possibility of amending JD14 to meet Molyneaux's requirements, which he was fairly relaxed about, and agreed to hold a meeting on 30 November 1993 to discuss the text in detail.

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[Exact time unknown] James Molyneaux met with Michael Ancram and Roderic Lyne for nearly two hours in the House of Commons to discuss the alternative British draft of the joint statement and JD14.

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[Exact time unknown] Michael Ancram met Jim Molyneaux, who handed over a draft of his document 'A blueprint for stability'.

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John Major, Michael Ancram and Jim Molyneaux met to discuss the Joint Declaration.

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[Exact time unknown] Following the meeting with John Major and Michael Ancram, Jim Molyneaux had a further 'non-discussion' with Michael Ancram where he was shown the text of JD15 and proposed further amendments to it.

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