Catalogue reference for all the following extracts: PREM 49/412
Extracts from a report written by John Holmes, who was Principal Private Secretary (a senior official) to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The report, written on 13 April, lays out his account of the final days of negotiation before the Agreement was signed on 10 April.
Transcript:
Tuesday 7 April
The situation looked bleak as we arrived in Belfast late on Tuesday afternoon. The decision by Mitchell to insist on including in the text put on the table late on Monday night two long unagreed annexes of issues for North-South co-operation had pushed the Unionists over the edge. They also found the sections on rights, policing, prisoners etc, which they had not seen before, too green for their taste. We therefore invited Trimble to Hillsborough immediately after our arrival, to allow him to explain at length his objections to the text. With the important exceptions of the North-South section and decommissioning, these objections did not seem insuperable. As important, he still seemed interested in a deal.
In the light of all this we worked overnight on proposed amendments to put to the Irish the following morning.
Notes:
- ‘Mitchell’ refers to former US Senator George Mitchell. The US had a significant Irish-American population. He was appointed by President Clinton as United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. In January 1996, he had set out the ‘Mitchell Principles’, a plan for securing a commitment to non-violence from all sides. He played a key role in the negotiations, as Chair of the multi-party talks.
- An ‘annex’ is like an extra, ‘add-on’ part of a document.
- Green is a colour associated with Republicanism.
- ‘Trimble’ is David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.
- ‘Hillsborough’ refers to Hillsborough Castle in Belfast.
- One of the main sticking points for Unionists was the issue of creating cross-border, North-South organisations. They were opposed to the idea of the government of Ireland having too much involvement in Northern Ireland.