The document records a meeting phone call between Patrick Mayhew, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Dick Spring, the Irish Tanaiste, that took place on 13 July 1996. Mayhew expressed that [British Prime Minister] John Major did not want an IGC [Inter Governmental Conference] to take place, although a meeting between the two governments was deemed necessary. Mayhew said that Major had been angry over John Bruton's [Irish Taoiseach] statement censuring the British Government, and Spring replied that the British Government was underestimating the strength of nationalist feeling over what had transpired. Spring said that he had wished that the Irish Government had been consulted before the Chief Constable changed the march's course, and Mayhew said that it was not a decision made at a governmental level. Spring said that the events at Drumcree had led to a wide perception that the RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] was much more lenient with the Orange Order than it was with nationalists. He renewed his request for an IGC, but was denied, though Mayhew confirmed that the two Governments should talk to rebuild the peace process.
(To go a specific resource item, please click on its link.)
None
None
Copyright
None
Physical Copy Information
None
Digital Copy Information
None