This session has been created editorially to show the representatives of the delegations involved in the drafting of the Joint Declaration joining the committee.

[Exact date and time unknown] This session has been created to show one of Father Reid's early position papers, which includes some of the ideas of the Joint Declaration in embryonic form.

[Exact date and time unknown] This session has been created to model another undated early paper from the archive of Tomás Ó Fiaich, received from Father Reid, and thought to be have been written by Martin Mansergh in 1989.

[Exact date and time unknown] This session has been modelled based on a citation from Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick. 'The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process.' Rev. and Updated ed. London: Mandarin, 1997 to show the initial Hume draft of the Joint Declaration (JD[1?]) being created. The editors hope to add further, primary sources for this draft in the future.

[Exact date and time unknown] The draft was spoken about at a meeting of the Prime Minister and Taoiseach on 4 December, and shown to Robin Butler by Dermot Nally at a subsequent meeting on 16 December. The text is almost identical to that attributed to Hume and dated to October 1991 by Mallie and McKittrick. This session is dated as 16 December to mark the first Butler-Nally meeting.

[Exact date and time unknown] The earliest evidence we currently have of JD3 is attached to a minute from William Fittall to Stephen Wall dated 21 February 1992.

[Exact date and time unknown] JD4 was handed over to John Chilcot and the Northern Ireland Office by John Hume on 29 April 1992. The editors have modelled it on that day, although it must also have existed prior to this. The editors have approximated the text of JD4 based on a detailed commentary by the Northern Ireland office produced on JD6.

[Exact date and time unknown] This session has been modelled based on a citation from Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick. 'The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process.' Rev. and Updated ed. London: Mandarin, 1997 to show the second Sinn Fein (or Hume–Adams) draft of the Joint Declaration (JD[5?]) being created. The editors hope to add further, primary sources for this draft in the future.

[Exact date and time unknown] These two drafts are taken from Dermot Nally's papers. One of them is dated 29 March 1993, and the other is undated. They are labelled as 'Hume/Adams' with a handwritten note and are very similar to each other, the changes mainly being to paragraph 4.

[Exact date and time unknown] Robin Butler met with the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, who handed over the latest draft of the Joint Declaration (JD6), which Reynolds noted had received PAC approval. We have modelled JD6 on this day, although it must have existed prior to this.

[Exact date and time unknown]John Hume was unhappy with JD6 and informed John Chilcot on 8 June 1993 that he had an alternative draft.

[Exact time unknown] The eighth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD8) was handed over to Quentin Thomas by Seán Ó hUiginn during an informal bilateral meeting on 24 September 1993.

[Exact time unknown] An updated draft of the Joint Declaration was handed over to Quentin Thomas by Seán Ó hUiginn on 1 October 1993, where it became JD9 in the British numbering system.

[Exact time unknown] After Quentin Thomas and Seán Ó hUiginn's informal bilateral meeting on 1 October 1993, changes were made to JD9 to turn it into the version which was negotiated on with the British delegation at a Butler-Nally meeting on 6 October 1993 (JD10). A handwritten note on a copy in Dermot Nally's papers suggests that these changes may have been made by Mansergh on 4 October 1993.

The Butler-Nally Group met to discuss the latest version of the Joint Declaration (JD10), and amended it, producing a later draft with amendments ad referendum to the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach (JD11). The version as reported by the British government delegation differed slightly from the Irish government version.

[Exact time unknown] The amendments made ad referendum to the Taoiseach were put to him. Some amendments were adopted and others were rejected. Some further changes were made to create JD12.

[Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas reported back the latest Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD12), which he had had over the phone from Ó hUiginn. In taking it down, he had accidentally reordered the sentence on self-determination, so the British JD12 at this point diverges slightly from the Irish draft.

[Exact time unknown] The British Government amended JD12 to include a reference to the constitutional guarantee. This version of the Joint Declaration was never shared with the Irish delegation, but it was shown to Jim Molyneaux on 18 November 1993. He had a very strong negative reaction to it.

[Exact time unknown] The earliest copy of the Joint Declaration incorporating Eames' additions that we have found is in Dermot Nally's papers, dated 2 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The thirteenth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD13) was finalised and conveyed to Quentin Thomas on 9 November. Quentin Thomas produced the first draft of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration.

[Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens sent a letter to Roderic Lyne including an assessment of the present position and next steps on the Joint Declaration Initiative. Attached at Annex B was an updated version of the Alternative British Draft of the Joint Declaration (12 November Draft).

[Exact time unknown] Archbishop Eames spoke to Albert Reynolds and persuaded him to make further changes to the text of the Joint Declaration, producing what the British would label JD14 when it was handed over to them on 18 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] The alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration was further revised on 23 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] This is the final internal version of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration, which was revised to reflect suggestions made by Jim Molyneaux in a bilateral meeting. It was shared with and rejected by the Taoiseach and Irish officials on 26 November 1993.

[Exact time unknown] JD14A was produced after a meeting between Ancram and Molyneaux on 30 November 1993 and includes the amendments suggested by the latter, as well as earlier British amendments proposed to JD14.

[Exact time unknown] The fifteenth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD15) was the working version of the text following the 7 December 1993 Butler/Nally meeting. It was written up on 7 December 1993 and dated accordingly.

[Exact time unknown] This draft, labelled JD15B, is the text of JD15 with the proposed British and Irish amendments.

[Exact time unknown] JD15C was the working text of the Joint Declaration as of 13 December 1993.

[Exact time unknown] This draft is a copy of the 7 December 1993 version of JD15 which has been annotated to include numerous amendments, including some from JD15B and C and others, following extensive back and forth between Butler and Nally on 13 December 1993. Although we have not yet found a clean copy, the editors have assumed that this would have been written up as JD16.

JD17 was the working version of the text at 16.00 on 14 December 1993.

[Exact time unknown] JD18 was circulated later on 14 December 1993. Paragraph 10 was still disputed, along with the third sentence of paragraph 13.

[Exact time unknown] JD19 was circulated later on 14 December 1993. It was intended to be the final version of the text, but it is clear from comparison with JD20 that some small amendments were made during the checking meeting between David Blatherwick and Martin Mansergh.

This was the final text of the Joint Declaration as published on 15 December 1993 [JD20].

[Exact time unknown] An annotated version of JD20 for the use of the Prime Minister and the NIO was circulated on 17 December 1993.