This document contains the summary record of the informal discussion on procedural guidelines and the agenda for the plenary session that took place on 25 June 1996. The meeting began with comments from Michael Ancram, who argued in favour of proceeding with David Trimble's suggestion of taking an issue by issue approach. Robert McCartney, Ian Paisley and Geoffrey Donaldson supported Peter Robinson's demand for a clarification on the different kinds of provisions in the Ground Rules document. Seamus Mallon, Steven McBride and Malachi Curran expressed their frustrations with the discussion and argued that the parties who found the Ground Rules unacceptable should indicate the specific rules they took issue with, instead of asking the Chairman to produce an analysis of the document. Subsequently, the Chairman requested each participant to submit answers to three questions regarding the Ground Rules, including their understanding of its status, the effect of paragraph 7 on that status, and (for the parties that objected to them) the specific provisions that continued to be problematic or (for the parties that accepted the Ground Rules) the provisions they considered fundamental. The Chairman clarified that answers to these issues would not be legal formulations, decided the time for the meetings and deadline the next day, and adjourned the meeting till 10.00.
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