Quill
  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. Friday, 24 September 1993, at 12:00

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.

Visualize

To see the full record of a committee, click on the corresponding committee on the map below.

Session 20861: 1993-09-24 12:00:02

[Exact time unknown] Three documents were circulated from an informal bilateral meeting between Ó hUiginn and Thomas: the first British draft of the Framework Agreement; a revised Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD8); and a version of paragraph 4 further revised during the meeting.

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

Exported Amendments

Resources (6):

Resource Collections (0):

None

Resource Items (6):

24 September 1993 British Draft of the Framework Agreement (Annotated Copy) - (file)

Joint Framework Document - heavily annotated.

Enclosure: Commentary by Quentin Thomas on Draft Eight of the Joint Declaration Submitted by the Irish Government and Record of Discussion with Seán Ó hUiginn - (file)

Quentin Thomas encloses a record of a meeting between himself and Seán Ó hUiginn discussing the Joint Declaration Initiative, particularly a new draft (JD8) presented by the Irish government, of which Ó hUiginn was the principal author. This conversation was a preliminary meeting to a scheduled meeting of the Liaison Group in Dublin on 1st October, where principles and language relevant to the Joint Declaration Initiative (JDI) were to be discussed. The Irish government continued to prefer the JDI to overt political development and had resolved to exclude the Provisionals until the British could be brought onboard with the document's phrasing. Discussion between Thomas and Ó hUiginn centred on paragraph 4. Issues raised by the British government included silence in the draft on: the constitutional guarantee, reform of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. Also problematic were references to irish 'unity' and 'self-determination for Ireland as a whole'. The Irish government remained enthusiastic about the JDI following this discussion. The important context of the talks between John Hume and Gerry Adams - and how far these involved knowledge of the JDI - is discussed in a postscript.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration Draft Eight Passed To Quentin Thomas by Seán Ó hUiginn on 27 September 1993 - (file)

Revised draft of the Joint Declaration provided by the irish government. Includes revisions which the British feel show positive commitment from Dublin towards reaching a mutual agreement. Issues still remain over paragraph four, particularly the reference to "a form of self-determination for Ireland as a whole" which would likely make constitutional Unionists feel undercut should the British government agree to this wording.

Joint Declaration: JD8 - (file)

Number of draft added by hand, along with note 'Passed by Mr o'hUiginn m 24.9.'

Joint Framework Document: British Draft – 24 September 1993 - (file)

Photocopied [British draft of the Joint Framework Document as handed to Ó hUiginn by Thomas on 24 September 1993]. The joint working paper sets out general principles of a proposed new agreement and examines the issues of devolution; North/South institutions; intergovernmental relations; constitutional issues; endorsement.

Nally-Butler Process: Meeting between Seán Ó hUiginn and Quentin Thomas – 24 September 1993 - (file)

Photocopied note by Ó hUiginn of his meeting with Thomas, in London on 24 September 1993, discussing in detail the text of a recent draft Joint Declaration. Further includes amendments suggested by Thomas to the revised [JD8] paragraph 4.

Summary of events in this session:

Individuals:

0 0 0 0

List of people joining the committee

List of people leaving the committee

List of people elected to a position

Documents:

0 0 0

List of proposals created

List of proposals amended

List of proposals copied

List of proposals imported

List of proposals to be voted on

List of proposals debated

Decisions:

List of proposals adopted

List of proposals rejected

List of proposals dropped

List of proposals referred

List of postpone debate voted on

List of other proposals voted on

Procedure:

List of procedural motion

List of motions debated

View event descriptions

Events (4)

Previous

session

Next

session

Icon key

Person joining a committee

Person leaving a committee

Person elected to a position

A new document introduced

An amendment proposed

A document introduced from another committee

A revision of another document begun

Amendment imported from another committee

Proposal Debated

Drop a proposal

Refer a proposal

Adopt a proposal

Other vote (continue debate)

Reject a proposal

Postpone debate on a proposal

Procedural motion introduced

Procedural Motion Debated

Procedural motion with sub-decisions