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. Wednesday, 06 October 1993, at 11:15

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 20888: 1993-10-06 11:15:00

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). Butler asked for four assurances from the Irish delegation, which they agreed to convey to the Taoiseach.

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

  • Annotations with Robin Butler's Advice (e1069786)

Resources (12):

Resource Collections (0):

None

Resource Items (12):

Annotated Joint Declaration (JD11 – 6 October 1993) - (file)

Annotations slim down wordy passage on the European Community and adds a consent qualification to the idea of a united Ireland. Whilst the specific author of these annotations is unknown, they are most likely British and thus offer an insight into the textual and general issues the British Government had with this draft.

Draft Joint Declaration (Re-Draft after Meeting on 6 October 1993) - (file)

Photocopied draft Joint Declaration by Reynolds and Major, containing eight paragraphs and including handwritten comments and annotations, marking amendments made during the meeting on 6 October 1993. [One crossed-out annotation notes "Redraft from Dr Mansergh 4/10": it is possible that the version on the table during the meeting had been redrafted by Mansergh on 4 October 1993.]

Draft Joint Declaration [Amendments Agreed ad Referendum on 6 October 1993] - (file)

Two copies of photocopied draft Joint Declaration by Reynolds and Major, containing eight paragraphs and including Nally’s handwritten comments and annotation. A handwritten note at the top of the first page states “Amendments shown were agreed ad referendum in London yesterday. DN 7.10/93”.

Draft Joint Declaration [Incorporating 6 October 1993 Amendments] - (file)

Photocopied draft Joint Declaration by Reynolds and Major, containing eight paragraphs. A handwritten note at the top of the first page states “Retyped text incorporating changed agreed ad referendum in London on 6/10/93. DN 7.10/93”.

Draft Joint Declaration [Revised 6 October 1993] - (file)

Photocopied draft Joint Declaration by Reynolds and Major, containing eight paragraphs and including Nally’s handwritten comments and annotations, marking amendments made during the meeting on 6 October 1993. [Does not include the amendment to paragraph 2 included in the following revised versions.]

Enclosure: Draft Joint Declaration (JD11) Produced During the Butler/Nally Meeting on 6 October 1993 - (file)

This document contains the draft JD11 that was produced on the basis of the changes that were agreed in the Butler/Nally meeting on 6 October 1993. The bracketed text indicates the changes in the text that the Irish and British delegations agreed on.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration (JD10) as Passed to Robin Butler on 6 October 1993 - (file)

This document contains the draft JD10 which was given to Robin Butler by the Irish delegation on 6 October 1993. The document begins by stating the joint desire to end violence and conflict in Northern Ireland. The beginning of paragraph four is lifted from former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Brooke's 9 November 1990 Whitbread speech, which reaffirmed Britain's "neutral" position in Northern Ireland and recognised that self-determination dictated that, with the consent of the majority, Northern Ireland could withdraw from the United Kingdom. The Irish Government also committed to establishing a permanent Convention to discuss the steps required to remove the barrier of distrust between the peoples of Ireland. This Convention would be open to democratically mandated parties so long as they openly condemned violence.

Enclosure: Record of a Butler/Nally Meeting on 6 October 1993 - (file)

This document provides an account of the meeting that took place between Robin Butler and Dermot Nally on 6 October 1993. The note records that the Irish Government accepted that contacting Jim Molyneaux of the UUP was necessary to reassure the Unionist side. Butler also set out points of concern for the British Government, and noted that they would require reassurances from the Irish Government on the same. They discussed John Hume and Gerry Adams' joint statement and the purpose of the Joint Declaration Initiative as envisioned by the Irish Government. Nally handed over draft JD10 (enclosed) to Butler, and they discussed the various amendments in the new text. The British Government delegation urged the Irish side for a more stringent constitutional guarantee, and the Irish side expressed concern that this would anger the Provisionals. Both sides discussed the next steps, and on the best time for the Declaration to be released.

Enclosure: Record of a Butler/Nally Meeting on 6 October 1993 - (file)

Key discussion points: how to manage Unionist opinion of a Joint Declaration: Irish anxious that the process would not depend on Molyneaux approval. British accepted but proposed a number of their own conditions: that the JDI be compatible with the Talks process, that Sinn Fein be thoroughly quarantined (following the end of violence) along their road to joining negotiations, and that the Irish government assure that the JDI would lead the PIRA to cease violence. Both sides perceived the Hume report to the Irish government, following his talks with Gerry Adams, as problematic for the JDI. The British perceived it as fatal. Differences remained over aspects of the new draft (JD10) that was discussed. Particularly, the British were nervous about the reference to the Irish constitution, and wanted more language pertaining to their own constitutional guarantee of the union. This latter point proved particularly thorny - debate continued over whether it mattered that the Provisionals did not accept the constitutional guarantee given the phrasing would frame it as a conviction only of the British government. The British framed this issue as crucial for the whole future process. The British are especially keen to retain plausible deniability of their involvement in the JDI should it go wrong (i.e. Loyalist backlash, failure to secure Provisional ceasefire).

Irish Government Line after Meeting Hume – Draft - (file)

Photocopied draft titled "Suggested Government line after Meeting John Hume", with handwritten comments by Nally [that seem to record points made by Robin Butler during a meeting of the Nally-Butler group on 6 October 1993]. The document details the report made on Hume-Adams to Reynolds and Dick Spring.

Meeting of the Nally-Butler Group – 6 October 1993 - (file)

Photocopied note by Nally of his meeting with Butler, on 6 October 1993. Also present at the meeting were Ó hUiginn, Chilcot, and Thomas. The note is addressed to Reynolds and marked “secret and personal”. Items discussed include the “Hume-Adams initiative”; request from the UK Government assurances of open communications with the Irish Government and no “side agreements”; potential cessation of IRA violence and admitting Sinn Fein to political dialogue; changes to the text of the draft Joint Declaration. Further includes Nally’s handwritten notes on the meeting and a full report by Ó hUiginn of the same meeting, also dated 7 Ocotber 1993.

Memo from Quentin Thomas to Jonathan Stephens Enclosing a Record of the Butler/Nally Meeting, JD10 and JD11, Dated 7 October 1993 - (file)

This document contains a memo that was sent by Quentin Thomas to Jonathan Stephen. Thomas reported on the three main actions points for the Irish Government to pursue. The third of these actions included the Taoiseach Albert Reynolds reassuring Prime Minister John Major about Irish expectations and intentions with regards to the Joint Declaration. The document encloses a note of the Butler/Nally meeting from 6 October 1993, and copies of JD10 and JD11.

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 (83)

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