- 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 12654: 1991-05-21 07:00:00
Bilateral meetings were held with the Unionists in order to redraft their position paper.
Document View:
Joint Unionist Position Paper of 21 May 1991
Expanded Joint Unionist Position Paper
1. We are concerned to see some constructive progress in the Talks process. We are already participating in Strand 1 and we see no justifiable impediment to the commencement of plenaries in that strand. We are however seized of the urgency to resolve, in the margins of the Conference, the outstanding issues which will clear the way for Strand 2 leading on to Strand 3.
2. There should be no doubt as to out determination to complete the process in each of its strands as evidenced by our endorsement of the 26th March 1991 statement.
3. In particular while we did not accept the principle of the appointment of an independent Chairman, if the clarifications concerning his identity and operations were reasonable and in view of the understanding that all the parties would need to be content with a particular nominee before the two Governments would proceed to make the appointment, we would be willing to work under him. We also understand that the appointment of an independent Chairman does not mean that the issues in Strand 2 would be open to international adjournment.
4. We consider it important to determine the terms of reference for the independent Chairman and the standing orders by which he will regulate meetings in Strand 2. We do not expect these to be bulky, complex or controversial.
5. In terms of venue the difficulty has been considerably narrowed. We agree that the opening plenary meeting of Strand 2 would be held in London and the bulk of substantive discussions in Northern Ireland before a plenary meeting in Dublin. We anticipate that both London and Dublin meetings will have longer than one day. It only remains for the Secretary of State reach agreement with all participants on a precise location for those meetings in Strand 2 which it has been agreed should take place within Northern Ireland.
6. The Secretary of State has outlined how the participating Northern Ireland parties will relate to the Strand 3 discussions (see Annex A). We have noted these arrangements and are willing to work them. In addition we have made clear our wish to have the opportunity afforded by the last plenary meeting in Strand 2 to put to the two Governments our views on issues we believe they should address in Strand 3. We also understand that progress in Strand 3 discussions may necessitate further meetings of Strand 1 or Strand 2 as appropriate.
7. We will deal expeditiously with the outstanding issues on receipt of proposals or if it is helpful we are prepared to make further suggestions ourselves. Moreover, as considerable time has passed and as we would have hoped to conclude Strands 1 and 2 by the end of June, we are willing to intensify the talks process in an effort to meet the common commitment to the 26 March timescale.
ANNEX A: Secretary of State's position regarding Strand Three
"While participating parties remain free to discuss strand three issues with the governments, strand three discussions will be concerned with the relationship between the two governments, and will take place between the two governments:
- other participating parties will be kept in touch with progress during strand three by regular liaison
- the two governments will meet other participating parties at their request for further discussion of strand three issues while strand three is taking place
- the outcome of strand three will be considered by all the participants alongside the outcome of the other two strands and nothing will be finally agreed in any strand until everything is agreed in the talks as a whole."
Decisions yet to be taken
Document Timeline
- Joint Unionist Position Paper of 21 May 1991 (introduced on 1991-05-21 07:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e830630) [This document]
[view current proposal at this moment]
- None (introduced on 1991-05-21 07:00:00 - REPORT_PROPOSAL - e830651) [view current proposal at this moment]