Official papers released under the 20 Year Rule show how a government working party discussed air and water monitoring required in Northern Ireland to detect peacetime nuclear incidents in aftermath of Chernobyl, and how a group of councils pledged to close Sellafield.
BORDER PASSES were the brainchild of the MOD in London but a March 1989 paper recently declassified shows that the idea was neither supported by the the military based in Northern Ireland nor the RUC chief constable who saw the scheme as “a positive asset to the IRA”.
DECLASSIFIED PAPERS reveal internal UK government discussions about a proposal via the the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Gerada, for a “possible initiative by the Holy See over violence in Northern Ireland”.
DECLASSIFIED GOVERNMENT FILES open to the public in PRONI from 9am this morning reveal how the NIO and government departments handled what was happening in Northern Ireland in the run up to 1991.
RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING – Reading through two newly released files documenting “Political Developments in NI” from 1989 and 1990, you get a feel for the sheer number of documented conversations between senior SDLP figures and officials in the NIO about the tensions in the leadership around the talks process.
TEARS BEFORE BEDTIME could be avoided if NI civil service press officers followed Cabinet Office advice. The size of NI and “the social scene populated by the chattering classes” meant that “official/journalist contact is more frequent than in GB”.
DUP ALL OUT FOR DEVOLUTION says NIO official in his report on the DUP’s 1989 conference. The DUP was seen to be relaunching itself as the main unionist. Analysis suggested the UUP were finding it difficult to maintain their position faced with the twin electoral threats of a resurgent DUP and Conservative growth.
1983’s FIRST DAY BRIEF for a new Secretary of State included pen pictures of local political figures they might meet, the parties and a handy potted history of Northern Ireland, starting in 1920.
FILES RELEASED TODAY under the 20 Year Rule reveal the Northern Ireland Office’s policy on communicating with Sinn Féin during the 1980s. No phone calls, no ministerial meetings and letters to be sent by Private Secretaries with a curt, formal and short tone.
On 20th March the Order in Council extending the operations of the UK National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland came into power – despite the challenge that presents to the Speaker of the NI Assembly – bringing us into line with the rest of the UK in the process. On the same date the NI Secretary of State of State, Theresa Villiers, made a written statement to the House of Commons on the report by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of national security …
BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport with, perhaps, the best description of the mechanism used to address the issue of on-the-runs. From Mark Devenport’s BBC blog While republicans insist unionists knew all about what was happening to the On The Runs, that is not strictly true. Senior PSNI officers answered some questions posed by Northern Ireland Policing Board members and the scheme got a glancing reference in the voluminous Eames-Bradley report on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. But when former …
On the principle of blog what you know, publish learn more and then blog more, here’s as much sense as I can currently squeeze out of this OTR business. I’m sure more will emerge over time. 1 After a day of talking up two divergent matters (Hain’s controversial administrative deal with SF, and the general issue of OTRs) and the ongoing issue of the OTRs, it finally became clear from Gerry Kelly last night that Peter Robinson was never let …
For the second year in a row, an Irish Government Minister has taken part in the Battle of the Somme commemoration at Belfast City Hall – this time it was the turn of Labour TD, Joe Costello. Also present were the Northern Ireland First Minister, the DUP’s Peter Robinson, and representatives from the Ulster Unionists, the Alliance Party and the SDLP. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Féin’s Máirtín Ó’Muilleoir, has continued his party’s boycott of the official ceremony. [Are you serious?! – Ed] As the …
East Belfast MP Naomi Long asked a long question [Q7] during Prime Minster’s Questions on Wednesday 13 March. She wanted to know what role he saw for the British and Irish governments “as joint custodians of the agreement” in progressing the outstanding issues of “reconciliation, unequivocal support for the rule of law, and to deal comprehensively with the past and its legacy”. David Cameron answered: I think there is of course a responsibility for the Taoiseach and the British Prime …
Apparently, I haven’t read it, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, MP for Neath, devotes two pages of his recently published memoirs to an attack on Lord Justice Girvan. More specifically, an attack on the then Mr Justice Girvan for his 2006 High Court ruling that Peter Hain “acted for an improper motive” when appointing Bertha McDougall Interim Victims Commissioner and was “in breach of the Ministerial Code of Practice” and that the then Secretary of State “approve[d] …
The report by Tony McCusker, examining the allegations made against Department of Justice civil servants by Sam Pollock when he resigned as Chief Executive at the NI Police Ombudsman, has been published by the NI Justice Minister, David Ford. Tony McCusker’s report is available here [pdf file]. As the report states at the outset It is important to note that the Chief Executive did not at any time allege that the NIO or the DOJ had interfered in the investigative side …
The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry report has been published [pdf file]. As the BBC headline notes, the inquiry found there was “‘no collusion’ in murder”. But their home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney, adds The government and police will be relieved at one level at the finding that there was no direct collusion. However there are enough grounds for concern because the report points to a very negative view of Rosemary Nelson which it says may have contributed to making her a …
When is calling for a properly-funded opposition not a call for a properly-funded opposition? When it’s secret negotiations over compensation for lost ministerial funds… At least, that’s the line the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, has been busily spinning to anyone who will listen. And it comes “from very good authority”… “within the NIO”. [Ah, “the securocrats” – Ed] They’re on ‘our’ side this time! [They always were… – Ed] Indeed. Pete Baker
The new team at the Northern Ireland Office [NIO] have made their first foray into local politics here. A statement from the new NIO Minister of State, Hugo Swire MP, reveals that he has sent a letter to the NI Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, telling Mr Poots that “it was still possible to hold the elections to 11 new Councils in May 2011 but a decision to bring the Order [ to give effect to the new local government boundaries] before the Assembly needed …
Just a quick point about The Observer’s extracts from Henry McDonald’s recently published book Gunsmoke and Mirrors – How Sinn Féin dressed up defeat as victory. Mary Alice Clancy’s study of the Bush administration’s Northern Ireland policy between 2001 and 2006 may have been under-reported, but it wasn’t un-reported – as John Ware would confirm [And Paul Bew – Ed]. But it has never been just about those “dreary steeples”. From The Observer article Clancy said that those she spoke …
