Extracts from a letter from the Irish Ambassador in London to Dermot Gallagher

Transcript

AMBASAID NA hEIREANN. LONDAIN

IRISH EMBASSY, LONDON

17 Grosvenor Place

SW1X 7HR

18 June 1998

Mr. Dermot Gallagher

Second Secretary

Anglo-Irish Division

Department of Foreign Affairs

Dublin 2

Dear Secretary,

Conversations with Mo Mowlam and Tony Blair

Mo Mowlam telephoned me late last night. She said she was concerned at what she saw as emerging difficulties between the British and Irish sides; her feeling was that things were “different” in recent weeks and that there was not the same level of trust between us as before. As an instance of this she wondered whether that British Ministers were having some difficulties in arranging meetings with the Irish side. Although she herself would be seeing Minister Andrews on 7 July, they wondered whether their inability to arrange a meeting with Paul Murphy today was deliberate on our part. She thought that it would be of the utmost importance to stay close in the period ahead.

I said that it was true that confidence had been dented by the handling of the Police Commission and the failure to consult adequately on the prisoners legislation. But she should not exaggerate. The Taoiseach had written to the Prime Minister outlining our views, and it was important that we explain frankly our concerns. This itself was a sign of the maturity in the relationship. (Mowlam incidentally could not recall the letter, but she put this down to the fact that she sees too many papers). I emphasised that the key thing for the future was that we be consulted properly on initiatives which lay at the heart of the process. The Irish Government could not be seen to be wrong footed on matters of such importance. As for meetings between Ministers I said that there were no problems on our side and Ministers were available as in the past,

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especially if urgent matters needed discussion.

Mowlam said she was reassured by what I said and put her concern down to tiredness and congenital paranoia.

The discussion then touched on some issues of current concern.

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Comment

l think our concerns about consultation have registered. When I met Blair in Downing Street on Saturday the first thing he said was that he knew that we were “sore” over the Police Commission and the prisoners legislation. He tried to justify their proceeding on both issues by pointing to the need to support Trimble and maximise the pro-Agreement vote within the UUP – “without that everything will fail.” I said that our main point was not that they had gone ahead but that they had failed to consult adequately and that problems could be avoided if both sides discussed issues at an early stage. He acknowledged the point.

Yours sincerely,

Ted Barrington Ambassador

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