- 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 13133: 1992-10-13 08:15:00
Conclusions of a bilateral with the DUP.
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Conclusions of the Bilateral DUP 13 October 1992 0815
Conclusions of the Bilateral DUP 13 October 1992 0815
The discussion focused on the DUP Statement made in response to HMG's paper of the 10th October 1992.
The DUP made it clear that the Unionists could not accept all Ireland institutions with executive powers in which Unionists would be in a minority. Nor could any institutions be freestanding; they had to be part of a UK/Irish Republic framework.
Further elaborations:
- On the phrase "joint authority", Dr Paisley confirmed that the DUP had no difficulty about the idea of joint consultative arrangements, within a British/Irish framework, which could lead to joint action in both parts of Ireland with the agreement of the legislatures north and south. The key point was that no institution should have the right to take executive action if it was one in which Unionists would be in a minority.
- While the DUP could not accept freestanding north/south institutions they could accept "compartmentalised" arrangements within an overall UK/ROI structure.
- The DUP said that their view was not necessarily incompatible with the HMG paper, but thought it could give rise to multiple interpretations in certain places and wished to clarify their position.
- The DUP were particularly nervous about the idea of institutions which had the capacity for development, which was considered an inexorable move towards a united Ireland. They would insist on the safeguard of development "by agreement" (agreement of the three legislatures).
- The DUP believed that any inter—parliamentary body should involve representatives of the London/Belfast/Dublin Parliaments as well as MEPs
- While the DUP accepted the need for a Secretariat to service meetings, they were opposed to anything which might be portrayed as an "all Ireland Civil Service in—waiting". It was crucial that representatives from north and south at joint meetings should be accompanied by their own officials.
Decisions yet to be taken
- Conclusions of the Bilateral DUP 13 October 1992 0815 (introduced on 1992-10-13 08:15:00 - CREATE_FROM - e842386) [This document]
Document Timeline
- Conclusions of the Bilateral DUP 13 October 1992 0815 (introduced on 1992-10-13 08:15:00 - CREATE_FROM - e842386) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]