Quill
  1. Overview: Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)
  2. Full Record: Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)
  3. Committee:Irish Government
  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.

Irish Government

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Session 21403: 1993-09-24 12:00:02

[Exact time unknown] The Irish delegation received the a report of the meeting with Thomas, including a revised version of paragraph 4 worked up by him and Ó hUiginn on an informal basis and the first British draft of the Framework Document.

Membership (at session start):

Noel Dorr, Charles Haughey, Martin Mansergh, Frank Murray, Dermot Nally, Albert Reynolds, Seán Ó hUiginn (7 total)

Representing 1 delegations:

Irish Government

Imported Documents

Imported Amendments

Exported Documents

Exported Amendments

Resources (5):

Resource Collections (0):

None

Resource Items (5):

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

Joint Framework Document - heavily annotated.

Draft Joint Declaration [between JD8 and JD9] - (link)

Photocopied draft Joint Declaration by Albert Reynolds and John Major, containing eight paragraphs. [This text seems to have been written following a meeting between Seán Ó hUiginn and Quentin Thomas to discuss JD8 on 24 September 1993. It has been provisioDermot Nally dated to the 24th September by hand and appears to have first taken on the amendments made by Thomas and Seán Ó hUiginn during their meeting, and then made further changes in line with those amendments. The changes also include language proposed by Thomas and amended by Seán Ó hUiginn as part of the 'Four Building Blocks for a Joint Declaration' document.]

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 - (link)

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.

Joint Framework Document: British Draft, 24 September 1993 - (link)

Photocopied [British draft of the Joint Framework Document as handed to Seán 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 on 24 September 1993 - (link)

Photocopied note by Seán 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.

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