- 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 13128: 1992-10-29 09:00:00
Conclusions of a bilateral with the SDLP.
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Conclusions of the Bilateral SDLP 29 October 1992
Conclusions of the Bilateral SDLP 29 October 1992
The SDLP wished to know the British Government's position on Strand II. Mr Fell explained the British Government would have no major role in the institutions which resulted from Strand II, although it could envisage being involved in some subjects arising in the institutions of Strand II. HMG found it difficult to see any position reached on Strand II which it would not be able to endorse. Workability was the key criteria to any North/South institutions and this meant all had to enter such institutions willingly.
The SDLP then inquired what the British Government would say to meet SDLP concerns regarding Articles 2 and 3. Both Mr Fell and Mr Thomas sought to stress that HMG had no difficulty in principle with executive authority in Strand II institutions. A statement along the lines of the following was produced, which seemed acceptable to the SDLP:
"HMG believes that any overall statement is likely to include a significant element concerning North/South relations and that this must be given institutional expression. For its part, it would be content for such institutions to have significant executive authority and capacity for dynamic development within appropriate arrangements for accountability, provided these could be agreed among the other participants."
Mr Fell [...] said that Strand II executive authority in significant areas would require either a mandate prior to Ministers' meeting or reference back to the Executive of North and South institutions thereafter. The SDLP accepted that there was a linkage and said they would put this point to Mr Hume and Mr Mallon on their return tomorrow.
There was an agreement on the absence of collective responsibility in the Sub-Committee Report and the need for this to be addressed. Mr Thomas said that the workability requirement for Strand I and II institutions meant that collective responsibility would have to exist, and that this would need to acknowledged in some way.
Mrs Rodgers asked how Strand I catered for the nationalist identity. Mr Fell outlined the proportionality arrangements, with weighted majority and trigger mechanisms as safeguards, the existence of a Panel which would operate only on the basis of unanimity, and human rights. One area for consideration was some symbolic recognition of the nationalist identity. The SDLP said that substance was most important to them, but agreed that the symbols could play a large part in selling any deal to their community.
Decisions yet to be taken
- Conclusions of the Bilateral SDLP 29 October 1992 (introduced on 1992-10-29 09:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e842257) [This document]
Document Timeline
- Conclusions of the Bilateral SDLP 29 October 1992 (introduced on 1992-10-29 09:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e842257) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]