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  1. Overview: Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)
  2. Full Record: Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)
  3. Committee:Butler-Nally Meetings
  4. Wednesday, 04 August 1993, at 15:00

Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)

This project models the series of formal and informal negotiations which led to the publication, in December 1993, of a declaration issued jointly by the British and Irish Governments. The Joint Declaration was a critical policy document which paved the way for a ceasefire and the entry of Sinn Féin into formal talks. It also laid out a shared set of principles – including, crucially, self-determination for the people of Ireland subject to the consent of the people of Northern Ireland – which would come to underpin the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and provide a framework for its ratification.

Butler-Nally Meetings

This committee has been created to model meetings of the Butler/Nally Group, which was one of the key structures in the drafting of the Declaration. From Autumn 1993 onwards, Chilcot and Ó hUiginn were also part of the negotiating team working on the Joint Declaration.

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Session 17800: 1993-08-04 15:00:00

The Irish delegation attempted to persuade the British to begin the process of negotiating on and amending JD6. They were not successful. The Maastricht vote and its consequences, the allegations of a Conservative/UUP deal, and the possible creation of a Northern Ireland Select Committee were also discussed in some detail.

Membership (at session start):

Robin Butler, John Chilcot, Dermot Nally, Seán Ó hUiginn (4 total)

Representing 2 delegations:

British Government , Irish Government

Imported Documents

Imported Amendments

Exported Documents

  • Resolution to Negotiate on JD6 as an Irish Government Proposal (e988609)
  • Principles for Inclusion in a Joint Declaration (e988227)

Exported Amendments

Resources (1):

Resource Collections (0):

None

Resource Items (1):

Meeting of the Nally/Butler Group on 4 August 1993 - (link)

Photocopied note by Dermot Nally of his meeting with Robin Butler, on 4 August 1993. Also present at the meeting were Seán Ó hUiginn, and John Chilcot. The note is addressed to Albert Reynolds and marked “secret and personal”. Items discussed include the “deal” with Unionists; proposed House of Commons Select Committee; draft Joint Declaration. Further includes Dermot Nally’s handwritten notes on the meeting and a full report by Seán Ó hUiginn of the same meeting, written on 6 August 1993.

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