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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:Informal British-Irish Bilaterals
  4. Friday, 08 October 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.

Informal British-Irish Bilaterals

This committee has been created to model bilateral contact between British and Irish government delegates which happened outside of the more formal structures set up for intergovernmental negotiation. These informal meetings were sometimes crucial to the development of the Joint Declaration.

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Session 21012: 1993-10-08 12:00:00

[Editorial session] The latest Irish draft of the Joint Delegation (JD12) was reported to Quentin Thomas during a phone call with Seán Ó hUiginn. In taking it down, Quentin Thomas accidentally changed the order of the self-determination sentence.

Membership (at session start):

David Blatherwick, Douglas Hurd, Martin Mansergh, Patrick Mayhew, Dermot Nally, Dick Spring, Quentin Thomas, Seán Ó hUiginn (8 total)

Representing 2 delegations:

British Government , Irish Government

Imported Documents

Imported Amendments

Exported Documents

Exported Amendments

  • Accidental Re-ordering of Self-Determination Sentence (e1069888)

Resources (5):

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None

Resource Items (5):

Enclosure: Annex B – A Brief History of the Joint Declaration Initiative - (file)

This document provides a comprehensive account of the Joint Declaration initiative, beginning with its inception during a meeting between John Major and then Taoiseach Charles Haughey on 4 December 1991. It follows the evolution of the initiative, including discussions between John Hume and Gerry Adams, which led the Irish Government to believe that it could pave the way for PIRA to declare a permanent ceasefire. The document tracks the various discussions and drafts exchanged, particularly through channels involving Dermot Nally on the Irish side and Robin Butler on the British side.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration as Conveyed on 8 October 1993 (JD12) - (file)

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. It reaffirms Britain's "neutral" position in Northern Ireland and recognises that self-determination dictates that, with the consent of the majority, Northern Ireland can leave the UK. The British Government take issue with the imprecise language of this paragraph and amend it to include a constitutional guarantee that it is for the people of Northern Ireland, not simply the Island of Ireland, to decide. The Irish Government also commits to establishing a permanent Convention to consult the relevant parties involved. This will not include the British Government, but will be open to democratically mandated parties so long as they openly condemn violence.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration Irish Draft (JD12) as Conveyed on 8 October 1993 - (file)

A draft of the JDI (JD11) which was the last text received from the Irish government, and which may have been shown to John Hume.

Joint Declaration: JD12 [Mislabelled as JD11] - (file)

This version of the Joint Declaration was included in the file without contextual information other than a title: 'The Irish text as conveyed on 8 October.' and the information that it is Annex C. 'JD11' has been written in pen in the top right-hand corner. However, cross-referencing the text with CJ 4/10482, which includes various documents relating to the October 1993 period of negotiation, makes it clear that this is, in fact, a copy of JD12.

Record of a Phone Call between Quentin Thomas and Seán Ó hUiginn to Discuss JD12 - (file)

Seán Ó hUiginn, Head of the Anglo-Irish Division of the Irish Foreign Affairs Department, relayed to Thomas that the proposal Declaration that was produced from a Robin Butler and Dermot Nally group meeting had been agreed by Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. This refers to the draft JD12 which is enclosed. The changes are to paragraphs 4, 5, and 7. Thomas spoke to Ó hUiginn of the British desire for a constitutional guarantee than only the consent of the majority can remove Northern Ireland from the UK.

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