This document records telephone conversations that Peter Westmacott [Counsellor in the British Embassy in Washington] had with Martha Pope [Senior Advisor for the Northern Ireland Peace Negotiations] and Peter King [member of the US House of Representatives] on 12 July 1996. During Westmacott's conversation with King in the afternoon, King criticised the Chief Constable's [Hugh Annesley's] decisions with regards to the Orange Order march at Drumcree, and said that his contacts in Sinn Féin had told him that the events from that week had made it harder for Gerry Adams to deliver a new PIRA [Provisional Irish Republican Army] ceasefire. Following this conversation, Pope called Westmacott and expressed sympathy for the Chief Constable's position, emphasising that notwithstanding the correctness of his decision, the Chief Constable had acted honourably in the interest of preventing further violence. Nevertheless, she said, the incident had reduced the legitimacy of the RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] and made it harder for paramilitaries to give up punishment beatings, and possibly also made it more difficult for Adams to deliver a ceasefire. She also noted that the events might have made it easier for Ulster Unionist Party [UUP] leader David Trimble to compromise in the peace talks, although that would not be the case for Social and Democratic Labour Party [SDLP] leader Seamus Mallon.
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