Record of informal discussion on procedural guidelines and agenda for plenary session on 2 July 1996 at 17.25

This document contains the summary record of the informal discussion on procedural guidelines and the agenda for the plenary session that took place on 2 July 1996. The Chairman began a discussion on the status of the Ground Rules paper. Seamus Close affirmed that his party believed that the Ground Rules had legal validity and that parties could not cherry pick the parts of the rules they wanted to keep. Reg Empey indicated that his party wanted to create a single authoritative document. He highlighted that the problem with the Ground Rules was not procedural but political, in that it could be used to determine the outcome of the talks. Jeffrey Donaldson invoked the opening statement of the Procedural Guidelines from 6 June, awhich stated that the rules of procedure decided by the delegates would hold precedence over the Ground Rules and the Procedural Guidelines. John Alderdice reaffirmed the legal status of the Ground Rules, noting that the Rules allowed all matters to be put on teh agenda which was part of the compromise that the talks were based on. He argued that conflict with regards to the rules of procedure should be resolved via the Business Commitee or bilaterals instead of recourse to the Ground Rules. Robert McCartney stated that the Ground Rules were put out to attract the nationalists, and that they were part of a progression of documents which included the Joint Declaration and the Framework Documents, which held no appeal for the unionists. Seamus Mallon responded to McCartney by pointing out that both the unionists and Sinn Féin had rejected the background documents. Mallon accused the unionists of political instransigence, and accused them of not understanding the political legitimacy of SDLP. Empey responded to Mallon's point about unionist paranoia, stating that their paranoia was justified given the things that the British Government had done over the past several years. Malachi Curran emphasized the need to come to a conclusion about the rules of procedure and about where the process was to go after it. The Chairman asked everyone to observe rule 19, and acknowledged the chicken and egg situation they were in with regards to the resolution of the rules of procedure and the status of the Ground Rules. The meeting adjourned at 19.25.

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Introductory Informal Discussions on Procedural Guidelines and Agenda 1996-07-02 17:25

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Writing Peace: George J. Mitchell Collection

Record of informal discussion on procedural guidelines and agenda for plenary session on 2 July 1996 at 17.25

Friday, 05 July 1996

Writing Peace: George J. Mitchell Collection