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  1. Overview: Northern Ireland Brooke/Mayhew Talks 1991-1992
  2. Full Record: Northern Ireland Brooke/Mayhew Talks 1991-1992
  3. Committee:British-Unionist Talks
  4. Session: 1991-05-20 15:27:00
  5. Event type: CREATE

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.

British-Unionist Talks

Meetings between the British Government, the UUP and the DUP. Dates of meetings created from source material, but records of discussions not currently available to us.

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Document introduced in:

Session 12572: 1991-05-20 15:27:00

Bilateral Meeting between the Government Team and the Joint Unionist Delegation held in Parliament Buildings at 15:27 on 20 May 1991.

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Conclusions of the Bilateral Meeting with the Unionist Delegations on 20 May 1991 at 1527

There are 2 proposed amendments related to this document on which decisions have not been taken.

Conclusions of the Bilateral Meeting with the Unionist Delegations on 20 May 1991 at 1527

The Unionist delegations still stood by their paper of 13 June.

The opening Strand Two session in London might last for two or three days rather than one, if, as was envisaged in Strand One, each delegation was given the opportunity to present its position first and for other delegations to cross-examine them thereafter.

The Unionists would be looking for the Irish Government to say they would be prepared to consider an alternative to or replacement of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. If they were to do so then the Unionists would remove their vehement opposition to talking in Northern Ireland. Bilateral meetings could be useful after the first plenary.

The Unionists requested access to the British Government during Strand 3, noting that the SDLP would be able to talk to the Irish Government whenever they liked.

The Secretary of State explained that the Unionist delegation would be free to meet either Government if they requested it and would not need to meet both together. The Minister of State commented that in the same way that the first meeting in London may last two to three days, so the last meeting in strand two which may be in Dublin might also need to go beyond one day to allow time for the Unionists to put their views to the two Governments in addition to the summing up of strand two issues.

Appointment of Independent Chairman - The Secretary of State said that it had been agreed with the Prime Minister that the independent chairman would receive his appointment from the two Governments after consultation with the parties. He welcomed nominations for the role of independent chairman from any quarter. The Government had a responsibility to consult the parties and the Secretary of State recalled that at the meeting with the Prime Minister he had said it would be madness for the two Governments to appoint someone who was patently unacceptable to one or more of the parties.

[The Unionist] understanding of the meeting with the Prime Minister was that there had been a move from consultation towards joint decision [...] that the two Governments would appoint the independent chairman but that the consent of all was required. Mr Molyneaux confirmed that the Unionists would not hold out against other nominees in favour of their own. He recognised that everyone needed to consent to the appointment.

Independent Chairman's terms of reference - the three particular issues of concern to the Unionists were the powers to convene meetings, to set an agenda and to determine the location of meetings.

Agenda for Strand 2 - It was essential to the Unionists that Articles 2 and 3 should form part of the agenda for Strand 2 of the Talks.

Movement between Strands - the Secretary of State would decide when Strand two would be launched. The independent chairman would not be consulted on this. On the transition between Strands two and three, clearly the independent chairman would have a role in deciding when the business of Strand two had nearly concluded.

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