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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. Saturday, 11 December 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 22013: 1993-12-11 12:00:00

[Exact time unknown] Roderic Lyne met with Martin Mansergh, Seán Ó hUiginn, and Noel Dorr to continue the conversation of the previous day on the Joint Declaration. The atmosphere was increasingly hostile and unproductive.

Membership (at session start):

David Blatherwick, Robin Butler, David Cooke, John A Dew, Noel Dorr, Fergus Finlay, Douglas Hurd, Roderic Lyne, Martin Mansergh, Patrick Mayhew, Dermot Nally, Dick Spring, Quentin Thomas, Seán Ó hUiginn (14 total)

Representing 2 delegations:

British Government , Irish Government

Imported Documents

Imported Amendments

Exported Documents

Exported Amendments

  • British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3) (e1288278)
    • Imported by 'British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3)' (e1316884) in Butler-Nally Meetings, on
      Monday, 13 December 1993, at 09:30
  • First John Hume Amendment to British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3) (e1291365)
    • Imported by 'First John Hume Amendment to British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3)' (e1316886) in Butler-Nally Meetings, on
      Monday, 13 December 1993, at 09:30
  • Second Alternative John Hume Amendment to British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3) (e1291366)
    • Imported by 'Second Alternative John Hume Amendment to British Government Amendment to Alternative Reaffirmation of Constitutional Guarantee in 2(3)' (e1316887) in Butler-Nally Meetings, on
      Monday, 13 December 1993, at 09:30
  • British Government Amendment to 4(1) (e1288287)
  • Irish Government Redraft of British Government Amendment to 4(1) (e1291372)
  • Molyneaux's Deletion of 'Assist' from 4 (e1288289)
  • British Government Deletion from 4(5/6) (e1288281)
  • Irish Government Amendment to British Government Deletion from 4(5/6) (e1291394)
  • Second Alternative Irish Government Amendment to British Government Deletion from 4(5/6) (e1291396)
    • Imported by 'Second Alternative Irish Government Amendment to British Government Deletion from 4(5/6)' (e1316894) in Butler-Nally Meetings, on
      Monday, 13 December 1993, at 09:30
  • British Government Amendment to 4(7/8) (e1288292)
  • British Government Amendment to 12(4) (e1288296)
  • Notice of Inclusion of the Magee List (e1288809)
  • New Final Paragraph (e1288813)
  • First Irish Government Correction of Transmission Error (e1291662)
  • British Government Amendment to 13(2) (e1291675)
  • Second Irish Government Correction of Transmission Error (e1291678)
  • Deletion of 'as of right' (e1291385)
  • Insertion of 'Properly' (e1316143)
  • Insertion of 'Legitimately' (e1316142)
  • Insertion of 'without further impediment' (e1316144)
  • British Government Amendment to Strike Out Paragraphs 10 and 11 (e1308117)
  • Further Irish Government Amendment to 12(5) (e1291660)
  • Insert the Names of the Principals (e1311055)
  • Irish Substitution of 'Help' for 'Assist' (e1316155)

Resources (22):

Resource Collections (0):

None

Resource Items (22):

Briefing Letter from Jonathan Stephens to Roderic Lyne Regarding the Meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at the EC Summit on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Describes the objectives of the meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at the margins of the EC Summit and lays down the major points of discussion. Encloses a note with detailed points on the topics to be covered and another note with the text along with the amendments proposed by both sides.

Briefing Letter from Jonathan Stephens to Roderic Lyne Regarding the Meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at the EC Summit on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Describes the objectives of the meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at the margins of the EC Summit and lays down the major points of discussion. Encloses a note with detailed points on the topics to be covered and another note with the text along with the amendments proposed by both sides.

Briefing Note from Roderic Lyne to John Major Outlining His Strategy for Meetings on 11 December 1993 - (file)

NIO conceding that the text should mention the Irish Convention in some way, though begrudgingly. Lyne then sets out the negotiating strategy at the upcoming Brussels summit, most of which involves trade-offs. He remains confident, however, that there remains only a handful of issues.

Enclosure: Annex A – Points to Make for Meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at EC Summit on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Points to make in John Major's meeting with Albert Reynolds with regards to the Anglo-Irish talks and the Joint Declaration Initiative.

Enclosure: Annex A – Points to Make for Meeting between John Major and Albert Reynolds at EC Summit on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Points to make in John Major's meeting with Albert Reynolds with regards to the Anglo-Irish talks and the Joint Declaration Initiative.

Enclosure: Annex B – Explanatory Note on the Text of JD15 and JD15B - (file)

Points to make in John Major's meeting with Albert Reynolds with regards to the Anglo-Irish talks and the Joint Declaration Initiative. Encloses the proposed text of JD15B with the British and Irish proposed amendments underlined, and the agreed text of the Joint Declaration with the provisionally agreed amendments.

Enclosure: Annex B – Explanatory Note on the Text of JD15 and JD15B - (file)

Points to make in John Major's meeting with Albert Reynolds with regards to the Anglo-Irish talks and the Joint Declaration Initiative. Encloses the proposed text of the JD15 with the British and Irish proposed amendments underlined, and the agreed text of the Joint Declaration with the provisionally agreed amendments.

Enclosure: Annex C – Joint Statement on Northern Ireland, 29 October 1993 - (file)

Joint statement released by both Governments on 29 October 1993.

Enclosure: Annex C – Joint Statement on Northern Ireland, 29 October 1993 - (file)

Joint statement released by both Governments on 29 October 1993.

Enclosure: Briefing Note – Lines to Take on the Joint Declaration in Brussels on 10 December 1993 - (file)

Sets out what the British response should be to the Irish Governments last minute draft changes to the Joint Declaration. British should stay firm on most of the issues as the note underlines "resist" at several points. It also contains some fallbacks if the Irish continue to push for certain changes. Note also contains some brief annotations and lines.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration (JD15) – 7 December 1993 - (file)

Text of the Joint Declaration with provisionally agreed amendments underlined.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration (JD15) – 7 December 1993 - (file)

Text of the Joint Declaration with provisionally agreed amendments underlined.

Enclosure: Joint Declaration (JD15B) – 9 December 1993 - (file)

Text of the Joint Declaration with British proposed amendments underlined in unbroken line and Irish proposed amendments underlined with broken line.

Enclosure: NIO Briefing for Discussion of the Joint Declaration on 11 December 1993 in Brussels - (file)

Enclosure: Record of a Meeting to Discuss the Joint Declaration on 11 December 1993 - (file)

Reports the discussions on the margins of the European Council between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach. The minute argues that these resulted from a hardening of the Irish position, mostly over the wording of paragraph 4 and changes to 10 and 11. These changes threatened to derail the whole inititiative. Includes a new paragraph 11.

Joint Declaration: JD17 - (file)

Incomplete. Lightly annotated with possible amendments. Has the note 'The text at 16.00 – not yet finalised!' in the top right hand corner.

Joint Declaration: New Paragraph 11 (Non-Paper Version) - (file)

New paragraph 11, stand alone. Handwritten note says: "[Non-paper]"

Lines to Take on the Joint Declaration (JD15) in Brussels on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Lines to take for Brussels discussion of JD15. References made to Rod Lyne's note of 10 December (below)

Lines to Take on the Joint Declaration (JD15) in Brussels on 10/11 December 1993 - (file)

Lines to take for Brussels discussion of JD15. References made to Rod Lyne's note of 10 December (below)

Record of Meeting between Roderic Lyne and Martin Mansergh, Noel Dorr and Seán Ó hUiginn on 11 December 1993 - (file)

Meeting between Roderic Lyne and Martin Mansergh, Noel Dorr and Seán Ó hUiginn after the European Council had finished. Discussion held on amendments to JD15

Summary Record of Joint Declaration Meetings in Brussels on 10 and 11 December 1993 - (file)

Reports the discussions on the margins of the European Council between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach. Encloses a minute of these exchanges.

Summary Record of Joint Declaration Meetings on 10/11 December 1993 in Brussels - (file)

Overview of discussions in Brussels on 10/12/1993 and 11/12/1993. Provides a summary of the "upshot of the three meetings", mainly around relations with the Irish government. Letter encloses a more detailed account of the second meeting (filed below)

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