Source 5
Extract from a statement by the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr Mo Mowlam in April 1998. Catalogue Ref: PREM 49 / 412
Context notes
In 1972 the Northern Ireland Parliament (based at Stormont on the edge of Belfast) was suspended due to the political upheavals in the province. What followed was known as Direct Rule – Northern Ireland was governed directly by the UK Government, and the main responsibility for Northern Ireland lay with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. When Labour won the 1997 UK General Election, Dr Marjorie ‘Mo’ Mowlam became the Northern Ireland Secretary. In this document she set out the main terms of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and in this extract gives credit to some of those who made it possible. Senator George Mitchell is an American politician. John de Chastelain is a Canadian diplomat and former army general. Harri Holkeri is a former prime minister of Finland. Tony Blair is the UK Prime Minister. Bertie Ahern is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland.
Transcript
This agreement was made possible by the efforts of many people – most of all by the leaders of the political parties involved in the negotiations.
The House will I am sure wish to join me in also paying tribute to them and to the exceptional chairmanship skills of Senator George Mitchell and his fellow independent Chairmen, former Prime Minister Harri Holkeri and General John de Chastelain.
The patience, impartiality and the personal authority which Senator Mitchell showed over the months of difficult and tense negotiation were a major factor in the success of these talks.
No less crucial was the constant support and the direct involvement of my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister, particularly over the last few days of the negotiations.
The final 36 hours saw him engaged in a virtually non-stop round of intensive negotiations which were among the toughest of the whole process.
His efforts were matched by those of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who rose above the personal tragedy of his mother’s death, to play an equally decisive role in the final intensive days of negotiation.
Hon Members will also appreciate the enormous value of having a broad political consensus in support of the talks process, both here at Westminster and in the Irish Parliament.
Questions
Content
- Who is given credit by Dr Mowlam in this extract?
Inferences from the content
- Would you agree that whether an individual or group is named implies that they played an important role?
- Is it possible to infer whether Dr Mowlam thinks any individual or group played a particularly important role?
Inferences from the context
- Can any inferences be made from the fact that Dr Mowlam did not name any of the Northern Ireland political parties or their leaders?
Lines of Argument
Which historian could use this document as supporting evidence?