- British-Eames Bilaterals
British-Eames Bilaterals
This committee has been created to model bilateral contacts between Archbishop Robin Eames 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.
To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below.
Membership (8 members):
Resources (0):
Resource Collections (0):
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Sessions (13)
[Exact time unknown] John Chilcot met Archbishop Robin Eames to see how far the Irish had got with briefing him on the Joint Declaration Initiative. He had met the Taoiseach twice and been shown JD12. He engaged to do his best to contain Protestant reaction and sought a meeting with Patrick Mayhew or John Major.
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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew met with Archbishop Robin Eames to discuss the Joint Declaration. Eames was much less enthusiastic about JD13 than he had been reported to be by the Taoiseach. He said that he had not promised to back it, and agreed to make this clear to Reynolds, and to press for further amendments. These would now include a recognition of the constitutional guarantee, which he had not previously thought necessary.
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Archbishop Robin Eames rang Jonathan Stephens to report the amendments he had proposed to the Taoiseach on 16 November 1993.
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[Exact time unknown] Archbishop Robin Eames handed over the latest version of the Joint Declaration (JD14) to John Major, and they discussed the status of the initiative. Eames had discussed the draft with Jim Molyneaux earlier in the day and gave a report of that meeting.
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[Exact time unknown] Patrick Mayhew and Archbishop Robin Eames spoke over the phone to discuss the leak of the Irish draft framework paper and Jim Molyneaux's position, which he had spoken to Eames about on the previous day.
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Chris Maccabe met with Archbishop Robin Eames to show him a copy of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration. Eames was unimpressed: he said it posed no issues for Unionists but did not offer much for the Irish government.
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[Exact time unknown] Archbishop Robin Eames spoke to Roderic Lyne over the phone in advance of a meeting between Eames and Albert Reynolds on 1 December 1993. Eames wanted to check whether any changes had been made to the British draft and Lyne asked him to be as frank as possible regarding Unionist difficulties with Hume/Adams.
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[Exact time unknown] Archbishop Eames telephoned Roderic Lyne to give a report of his meeting with Albert Reynolds.
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[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne spoke to Robin Eames to update and reassure him on the Joint Declaration initiative.
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[Exact time unknown] John Major wrote to Robin Eames.
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[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne spoke to Robin Eames to discuss progress on the Joint Declaration and outstanding amendments.
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[Exact time unknown] Robin Eames phoned Roderic Lyne back to report on a conversation he had had in the interim with Martin Mansergh.
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[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne met with Robin Eames to brief him on the plan to issue the Joint Declaration on the following day. He emphasised that supportive comments from the Archbishop would be welcomed.
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