Devolution of Power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: The Inner History
Tony Blair’s Cabinet Papers, 1997 Volume Two, The Representative Government in Northern Ireland
©2023
Others
XXVI,
526 Pages
Summary
«Raina’s documentation provides invaluable insight into the high-powered and high-level political calculations that made it happen. It is perhaps the most signal achievement of the era and this expertly curated collection on its genesis and evolution is unquestionably of permanent value.»
(Professor Marc Mulholland, Professor of Modern History, Oxford)
This is the second volume in which Peter Raina presents the Blair government’s Devolution papers. Here, the focus shifts to Northern Ireland in the midst of the «Troubles» – a situation where discrimination and bigotry in a society divided by religious and national affiliations had erupted into hatred, violence and fear.
Tony Blair, his minister Mo Mowlam and a team of civil servants and others reached for American help and worked intensely with Gerry Adams, Leader of Sinn Fein, and with the government of the Republic in the South of Ireland to bring the warring factions together. Their efforts were concentrated into an astonishing single month.
The Devolution plans, as such, have not stood the test of time but, with effort from all sides, a fragile truce was achieved and a virtual end to the «Troubles». This was an enormous achievement. The papers are an object lesson in how patient diplomacy and negotiation can work, even in the most intractable of situations.
(Professor Marc Mulholland, Professor of Modern History, Oxford)
This is the second volume in which Peter Raina presents the Blair government’s Devolution papers. Here, the focus shifts to Northern Ireland in the midst of the «Troubles» – a situation where discrimination and bigotry in a society divided by religious and national affiliations had erupted into hatred, violence and fear.
Tony Blair, his minister Mo Mowlam and a team of civil servants and others reached for American help and worked intensely with Gerry Adams, Leader of Sinn Fein, and with the government of the Republic in the South of Ireland to bring the warring factions together. Their efforts were concentrated into an astonishing single month.
The Devolution plans, as such, have not stood the test of time but, with effort from all sides, a fragile truce was achieved and a virtual end to the «Troubles». This was an enormous achievement. The papers are an object lesson in how patient diplomacy and negotiation can work, even in the most intractable of situations.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- CONTENTS
- List of Illustrations
- Main Parties that Had to Be Reconciled
- Key Negotiators
- Acronyms and Special Terms Used in the Documents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Government Discussions on Devolution in Northern Ireland
- Document
- Governing Northern Ireland: An Integrated Approach, May 1997
- Letter from Gerry Adams to Tony Blair, 2 May 1997
- Letter from Tony Blair to Gerry Adams, 2 May 1997
- The Secretary of State Has Written to Sinn Fein, no date
- Ulster Democratic Party, 2 May 1997
- The Taoiseach to Call on the Prime Minister, 5 May 1997
- Statement by the Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, 5 May 1997
- Meeting between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister, no date
- Meeting with Trimble, 7 May 1997
- Meeting with Dr I R K Paisley, 7 May 1997
- Speaking Note: Dr Paisley, 7 May 1997
- Dinner with the Tanaiste, 7 May 1997
- Address by the Taoiseach: Mr John Bruton TD to the Oxford Union, 7 May 1997
- Meeting between the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, 7 May 1997
- Call by the UUP, 7 May 1997
- Northern Ireland: Implementing the North Report, 7 May 1997
- Meeting with Bruton, 7 May 1997
- Letter from Gary McMichael, Leader of the Ulster Democratic Party, to the Prime Minister, 8 May 1997
- Call by the Taoiseach, 8 May 1997
- On Bruton Visit, 8 May 1997
- Visit of the Taoiseach, 8 May: East/West Issues, 9 May 1997
- Contact with Sinn Fein, 9 May 1997
- Message from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to Sinn Fein, 9 May 1997
- Northern Ireland: Meetings with Party Leaders, 9 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Bills, 10 May 1997
- Call by UUP, 12 May 1997
- Northern Ireland: Meetings with Party Leaders, 12 May 1997
- A Response from Sinn Fein, 12 May 1997
- Call by the DUP, 12 May 1997
- Sinn Fein in Westminster, 13 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Bills, 13 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Bills, 13 May 1997
- Emergency Provisions Bill, 13 May 1997
- Public Order (Northern Ireland) Bill, no date
- Draft Letter for PS/Prime Minister, no date
- The Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, 13 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Bills, 14 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Bills, 14 May 1997
- Further Contact with Sinn Fein, 15 May 1997
- Call by Senator Mitchell, 15 May 1997
- Irish Contacts with Sinn Fein, 15 May 1997
- Sinn Fein Meetings with Officials, 16 May 1997
- Letter to Ahern, 16 May 1997
- Northern Ireland, 16 May 1997
- Dunloy: Apprentice Boys of Derry, 16 May 1997
- Request for Meeting by Bloody Sunday Families, 16 May 1997
- Further Contact with Sinn Fein, 16 May 1997
- Liaison Group with the Irish on 16 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Speech: Irish Reactions, 18 May 1997
- Northern Ireland Speech, 18 May 1997
- Contacts with Sinn Fein, 18 May 1997
- Call by Lord Alderdice, 19 May 1997
- Reactions to Blair Speech, 19 May 1997
- Discussions with Paddy Teahon, 19 May 1997
- Letter to Ahern, 19 May 1997
- International Fund for Ireland: Proposed EU Regulation, 19 May 1997
- Call by Robert McCartney MP, 19 May 1997
- Northern Ireland: Meetings with Mr Robert McCartney QC, MP and Lord Alderdice, no date
- UKUP Leader and MP for North Down, Robert McCartney MP, no date
- Alliance Party, no date
- Lord Alderdice of Knock, Alliance Pary Leader and Member of Belfast City Council, no date
- Meeting of Liaison Group, 19 May 1997
- Visit to Northern Ireland, 19 May 1997
- Liam McCotter and Gilbert (Danny) McNamee, 19 May 1997
- Meeting between Officials and Sinn Fein, 20 May 1997
- Meeting with Sinn Fein, 20 May 1997
- Sinn Fein, 20 May 1997
- Meeting with Sinn Fein, 21 May 1997
- Meeting between Sinn Fein and No 10 Officials – Wednesday 21 May 1997
- International Fund for Ireland: Proposed EU Regulation, 21 May 1997
- International Fund for Ireland: Proposed EU Regulation, 21 May 1997
- Request for Meeting by “Bloody Sunday” Families, 22 May 1997
- Cooperation between the Irish and British Governments, 22 May 1997
- Great Irish Famine Event: Request for Prime Ministerial Video, 22 May 1997
- Meeting with the Taoiseach, 23 May 1997
- Ulster Democratic Party, no date
- Draft Letter for Signature by PS/Prime Minister, no date
- The Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, 23 May 1997
- Sinn Fein: A Possible Text, 23 May 1997
- Meeting with Sinn Fein, no date
- British Government Policy on the Northern Irish Talks, 25 May 1997
- The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to Meet the Bloody Sunday Relatives, 27 May 1997
- Liaison Group Meeting, 29 May 1997
- Meeting between Sinn Fein and NIO Officials – Wednesday 28 May 1997
- Dealings with Sinn Fein, 28 May 1997
- Dealings with Sinn Fein, 29 May 1997
- Visit of President Clinton, 29 May: Northern Ireland, 29 May 1997
- Great Irish Famine Event: Message from Prime Minister, 30 May 1997
- Draft Message from Prime Minister on Occasion of the Great Irish Famine Event: 31 May-1 June 1997
- Northern Ireland: Moving the Process Forward, 30 May 1997
- Call by Senator Mitchell: 30 May 1997
- Call by George Mitchell, 30 May 1997
- Messages to David Trimble, 30 May 1997
- Northern Ireland, 30 May 1997
- The Great Irish Famine Event, no date
- President Clinton’s Speech re: The Candlelighting Ceremony, 30 May 1997
- 3 Towards the Northern Ireland Act
- 4 Documents 97 and 98: Report of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning & The Belfast Agreement
- Document 97 Report of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning, 22 January 1996
- The Belfast Agreement
- 5 The Northern Ireland Act 1998
- Document
- Northern Ireland Act 1998
- Bibliography and Index
- Select Bibliography
- Index of Names
- By the Same Author
ACRONYMS AND SPECIAL TERMS USED IN THE DOCUMENTS
Acronyms
| AIA | - | Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| BIC | - | British-Irish Council |
| BIGC | - | British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference |
| BSE | - | Bovine Spongiform Encepholopathy (“mad cow disease”) |
| CAP | - | Common Agricultural Policy (EU) |
| CBM | - | Confidence Building Measure |
| CLMC | - | Combined Loyalist Military Command |
| COREPER | - | Committee of Permanent Representatives (EU) |
| DENI | - | Department of Education Northern Ireland |
| DFA | - | Department of Foreign Affairs |
| DHSS | - | Department of Health & Social Security |
| DSD | - | Downing Street Declaration |
| DUP | - | Democratic Unionist Party |
| EC | - | European Community |
| ECHR | - | European Convention on Human Rights |
| EMU | - | European Monetary Union |
| EPA | - | Emergency Provisions Act (counter-terrorism) |
| FCO | - | Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
| GB | - | Great Britain |
| GNP | - | Gross National Product |
| GOC | - | General Officer Commanding |
| HMG | - | Her Majesty’s Government |
| IFI | - | International Financial Institutions |
| IGC | - | Inter-Governmental Conference |
| IPCP | - | Independent Commission for Police Complaints |
| IRA | - | Irish Republican Army |
| JFD | - | Joint Framework Document |
| L&B | - | Labour & Benefits |
| LEG | - | Legal (Committee) |
| MAFF | - | Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food |
| mecu | - | Million European Currency Units |
| MOD | - | Ministry of Defence |
| NI | - | Northern Ireland |
| NICRA | - | Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association |
| NIO | - | Northern Ireland Office |
| NIWC | - | Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition |
| NSMC | - | North-South Ministerial Council |
| OECD | - | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (EU) |
| PAFT | - | Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment |
| PD | - | Political Directorate |
| PES | - | Public Expenditure Survey |
| PIRA | - | Provisional Irish Republican Army (“Provos”) |
| PS | - | Parliamentary Secretary |
| PTA | - | Prevention of Terrorism Act |
| PUP | - | Popular Unionist Party |
| PUS | - | Parliamentary Under-Secretary |
| QFL | - | Queen’s Speeches and Future Legislation |
| QMV | - | Qualified Majority Voting |
| RPI | - | Retail Price Index |
| RUC | - | Royal Ulster Constabulary |
| SACHR | - | Standing Advisory Committee on Human Rights |
| SDLP | - | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| SF | - | Sinn Fein |
| TD | - | Teachta Dala (Deputy of the Dail, equivalent to MP) |
| UDA | - | Ulster Defence Association |
| UDP | - | Ulster Democratic Party |
| UKUP | - | United Kingdom Unionist Party |
| UUP | - | Ulster Unionist Party |
| UVF | - | Ulster Volunteer Force |
Special Terms
Details
- Pages
- XXVI, 526
- Year
- 2023
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781803742540
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781803742557
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781803742533
- DOI
- 10.3726/b20975
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2023 (August)
- Keywords
- Representative government in Northern Ireland Devolution Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Tony Blair Blair government's devolution papers
- Published
- Oxford, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, 2023. XXVI, 526 pp., 15 fig. b/w.
