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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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British Government detailed record of multi-party meetings on 2 October 1996

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

This document details meetings between the parties and Government on 2 October 1996 to work towards the agenda of the rest of the opening plenary. Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri chaired the session and began with adjournment for bilaterals. The British Government raised issues of ministerial attendance at upcoming talks due to the Conservative Party Conference, so bilaterals would be used instead with plenary talks to follow. The same understanding was undertaken for members of the European Parliament to keep up their attendance. It also records a bilateral meeting between the British Government and Irish officials on the agenda. The Irish took issue with the emphasis put on agreement on decommissioning, so suggested an amendment to point to agreeing the procedures instead. Minister of State for Northern Ireland Michael Ancram met with the DUP and UKUP to discuss the draft agenda as well as concern over the paper on decommissioning published by the two Governments. They wanted the Unionist positions to be distinct and agenda discussion to be broader than Mitchell’s proposals. Concerns around Sinn Fein entry were also discussed, with Ancram saying the “unequivocal restoration” of ceasefire would depend on the context. On the agenda, General Secretary of the DUP Peter Robinson suggested the party would accept one that allowed all proposals to be considered and commit to the approach agreed from this. Bilaterals were to decide the actual wording of this. Facility arrangements plagued the organisation of meetings for the Business/Economic Group to meet talks participants. This was withdrawn and bilaterals between the participants took place. The UK and UUP bilateral indicated concern over items for “discussion and agreement”, but the wording needed to be agreed in discussion with the SDLP. Reg Empey of the UUP of the UUP also raised Sinn Fein entry requirements to clarify “unequivocal” ceasefire meaning, to which Ancram referred to the contextual judgement of commitment to peace. The DUP/UKUP delegation showed possible convergence on the SDLP view of the draft agenda going beyond discussion of the Mitchell Report. The DUP position remained that three-stranded negotiations could not take place until agreement on decommissioning. Further bilaterals were planned and progress appeared encouraging.

Jump To
i34201
Item Number
20
Oct
03
1996
CJ 4/12310
47 1996 - 1996
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  • Talks Support Unit
  • British Government

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