- Event type: CREATE_FROM
Northern Ireland Brooke/Mayhew Talks 1991-1992
WORK IN PROGRESS - 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.
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.
To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below.
Session 12559: 1991-05-09 07:00:00
Conclusions from bilateral meetings on 9 May are considered and compiled by the Chairman before being presented to the other delegations.
Document View:
Conclusions of the Meeting with the SDLP at 14:05 on 9 May - Response to the Joint Unionist Amendment
Conclusions of the Meeting with the SDLP at 14:05 on 9 May - Response to the Joint Unionist Amendment
European Location - SDLP reaffirm that their position on moving to a 'neutral venue' has been clearly stated and has not changed.
The position of the UK Government also remained unchanged to that stated on the morning of Tuesday 7 May, namely that there was a significant element of impracticality in conducting discussions outside territory for which either the UK or Irish Governments had responsibility. In addition the cost implications would be significant.
Consideration of Cost at European Venue - SDLP state that both sides should not overlook the cost not only for Ireland and UK but also the host Government in providing adequate security for participants
Reaction to the Unionist position - The SDLP believe there to be a linkage between the Unionist position in refusing to talk in Ireland and Articles 2 and 3 which they find unacceptable
Procedures for the Talks - there was a need for a decision on the venue for Strand 2 to prevent everyone from looking foolish.
26 March Statement - the text of the [Secretary of State's] statement [of 26 March] was unalterable and was the text to which Parties could return if clarification needed to be sought on any aspect.
Acceptable Locations Within Northern Ireland - The SDLP preference remained for Armagh but that they would be prepared to consider other locations. They wished to rule out the Belfast Harbour Commissioner's Office on grounds of practicalities. They would also object to meeting anywhere on the Stormont Estate. Otherwise, they felt that Belfast locations were more difficult to access and liable to disruption by bomb scares.
Articles 2 and 3 - The Secretary of State made clear that any discussion on Articles 2 and 3 would have implications for strand three since this would deal with the relationship between the UK Government and the Irish Government. On this basis, there were serious implications for both Governments and both Parliaments would have to be involved. There was a question as to how the various issues and the views of the parties might best be put to both Governments in strand three and he would need to seek agreement with the Irish Government as to how this particular point should be addressed. In his discussion with the Unionists he had also sought to meet their concerns about discussion on Articles 2 and 3 by stressing that the package as a whole would have to be agreed by all concerned and that they, as well as the other Parties involved in the talks, would thus have a degree of control over what ultimately emerged.
Chairmanship of Strand 2 -
Summary of Current Positions - the Unionists, as they had said from the outset, wished strand two to be conducted in London or in a neutral venue and not on the island of Ireland, while the SDLP were prepared to alternate between London and Dublin. The SDLP seemed to have moved to a position of being prepared to meet in Northern Ireland but would not support the continent of Europe as a venue - the Unionist position appeared to be the opposite and the present situation thus appeared to be one of two mutually exclusive positions.
Decisions yet to be taken
Document Timeline
- Conclusions of the Meeting with the SDLP at 14:05 on 9 May - Response to the Joint Unionist Amendment (introduced on 1991-05-09 07:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e827121) [This document]
[view current proposal at this moment]
- None (introduced on 1991-05-09 07:00:00 - REPORT_PROPOSAL - e827122) [view current proposal at this moment]