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These documents were scanned, collated and catalogued by Ruth Murray, Annabel Harris, Isha Pareek, Eleanor Williams, Antoine Yenk, Harriet Carter, Rosa Moore, Oliver Nicholls, Kieran Wetherwick, and Cerys Griffiths.

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Memo from Patrick Mayhew to John Major on the Northern Ireland Decommissioning Bill, 5 July 1996

Writing Peace: The National Archives of the UK (TNA)

This memo, dated 4 July 1996, written by Patrick Mayhew [Secretary of State for Northern Ireland] and addressed to British Prime Minister John Major, outlines the current status of the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Bill. Mayhew noted that British and Irish officials had been collaborating to draw up draft legislation which would allow the two Governments to implement the Mitchell recommendations on modalities of decommissioning. Regarding handling, Mayhew said that although the original plan had been to enact the decommissioning legislation before the summer break, in consideration of the changed political and security climate following the Manchester bombing, he thought that they should not push for the enactment of the bill at the moment. He said that the early entry of Sinn Féin into the talks was improbable, and that enacting the legislation at this point would do little else than imposing more pressure on loyalist parties with regards to decommissioning. Further, the decommissioning bill would not be well received by the Parliament at this moment, and their window for getting the bill enacted was quite short. Mayhew also said that he had discussed the decommissioning legislation with David Trimble [leader of the UUP], who likely wanted to see both Governments' determination to make progress on this issue. Mayhew proposed publishing the legislation instead of enacting it, to meet Trimble's concerns. The memo contains annotated text written by John Holmes, who highlighted that Trimble was key to the handling of the legislation, and asked the Prime Minister if he was content with Mayhew's approach.

Jump To
i31092
Item Number
86
May
07
1996
PREM 19/5713
87 1996 - 1996
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  • Northern Ireland Office
  • British Government

The National Archives of the UK (TNA), digitized by the Quill Project at https://quillproject.net/resource_collections/351/.