Resource Collections

Image - Resources

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

Record of a meeting between Patrick Mayhew and Hugh Annesley on 10 July 1996

Monday, 07 October 1996

i31140

This document records a meeting between Hugh Annelsey, the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary [RUC], and Patrick Mayhew, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, that took place on 10 July 1996. The Chief Constable was accompanied by Deputy Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Lewis, and Brigadier David Strudely of the Royal Irish Regiment. They discussed the on-going stand-off at Drumcree, noting that while the UDA [Ulster Defence Association] had been attempting to avoid violence, the UVF [Ulster Volunteer Force] was divided by internal tensions. The Chief Constable said that they were nowhere near a compromise, and that Brendan McKenna of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Association was feeling no pressure to negotiate an accommodation, especially in light of forcible evictions of Catholic families due to loyalist intimidation. They discussed events from the previous night, when roads to the Belfast International Airport had been blocked due to a large gathering of unionists. The Chief Constable expressed concern about the trouble that people marching with the Orange Order had been causing with the local population, and stated that they needed leaders of the Orange Order and the UUP [Ulster Unionist Party] to condemn these actions. Mayhew asked about military reinforcements, and Brigadier Strudely said that two companies' worth of soldiers would be made available for the coming weekend. The Chief Constable confirmed that he would need an extra battalion and that he was considering the possibility of mutual aid from other police forces. He stated that he could not guarantee that the RUC would prevail, and Mayhew replied saying that the only viable policy they could follow was to maximise the resources available to the Chief Constable, which meant deploying additional troops, including the third battalion and the Spearhead battalion, and flagging up the prospect of yet another battalion being required if circumstances warrant it. Some text has been removed from the document, under the Freedom of Information Act 2009.

Download File (format is: "application/pdf")
Writing Peace: The National Archives of the UK (TNA)

(To go a specific resource item, please click on its link.)

Your Browser does not seem to allow embedded PDFs, but you can download the PDF instead.

None

None

Copyright

None

Physical Copy Information

None

Digital Copy Information

None