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-Alliance Talks

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Session 11498: 1992-10-21 12:30:00

Meeting between members of the Alliance Party delegation, led by John Alderdice, and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Patrick Mayhew.

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Conclusions of the Bilateral Alliance 21 October 1992

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Conclusions of the Bilateral Alliance 21 October 1992

The Alliance party have sought the meeting in order to provide their assessment of the present delicate state of play and to obtain an understanding of how the Government team is approaching the last critical phase.

Alliance party sees four main issues requiring negotiation and resolution:

- The exercise of executive responsibility in Northern Ireland (the Alliance delegation wishes to accommodate Mr Hume but are not prepared to sign up for any arrangement, such as the proposed panel, which would automatically exclude them.)

- The powers of North/South institutions (there is a sliding scale of authority on which negotiation could take place; it is not a matter of executive control.)

- Articles 2 and 3 (there is a possibility of movement on the part of the Irish Government if some form of quid pro quo could be offered.)

- Policing (there is a need to talk about the practical reality of what is being proposed rather than just about principles.)

Other concerns:

Dr Alderdice is concerned that the bilaterals with Sir Ninian might go on too long and that if the Talks collapsed the constitutional path would be undermined and the work of democratic politicians greatly devalued.

Decisions yet to be taken

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