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Northern Ireland Mini-Models

Writing Peace

A selection of mini-models designed to provide an insight into the ongoing work of 'Writing Peace' and to demonstrate Quill's approach to visualising the archive material and tracking the process of negotiation. This collection is still under construction.

Cite as: Christopher McCrudden, Annabel Harris, Ruth Murray, Ian McBride and Nicholas P. S. Cole, Northern Ireland Mini-Models , Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2024).

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People Icon18 People
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Documents Icon58 Documents
Decisions Icon24 Decisions

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Full Record View

This page shows the complete source-material for this negotiation

Guided Research Tools

This page gives access to the main visualizations used to explore the work of committees or individuals

Voting Statistics

This view offers a set of tools to examine shifting alliances

Topic Overview

This view shows a summary of the topic keywords associated with events during this negotiation, and allows users to find events associated with each keyword

Activity Summary

This page offers a series of views for exploring the work of those involved in this process of negotiation, focusing on the hierarchical relationship of proposals rather than on the sequence of events

Document Library

This page shows the documents currently agreed to or under consideration by various committees. A good tool for those using Quill in meeting presentations.

Introduction

This negotiation contains a selection of mini-models designed to provide an insight into the ongoing work of 'Writing Peace' and to demonstrate Quill's approach to visualising the archive material and tracking the process of negotiation. It differs from our usual approach in that we will be presenting only certain documents and moments in isolation, rather than including everything tabled during the course of a negotiation. This collection is still under construction, and we will be regularly adding small amounts of new material.

Prisoners Section of the Mitchell Draft

This mini-model has been created to represent a section of the Monica McWilliams collection relating to amendments to the 'Prisoners' section of the 6th/7th April Mitchell Draft. Although, unlike the NIWC text on victims being worked up in parallel, these particular amendments did not make it into the Good Friday Agreement, they do provide one small snapshot of the frenetic markup and re-drafting process that took place within the party offices after the late (and late night) appearance of the draft agreement. The NIWC's commitment to broadening participation in democracy was at the heart of their version of this process, and this model demonstrates how amendments emerged in dialogue with experts from NIACRO, a voluntary organization working to reduce crime and re-offending. It is also interesting to note that the two-year timeline set for prisoner release in the final draft of the agreement accords with the recommendation made by NIACRO and the amendment proposed by the NIWC.

Evolution of the Human Rights Language in the Good Friday Agreement

This mini-model was created to accompany Professor Christopher McCrudden's presentation to the Agreement 25 Conference at Queen's University, Belfast. It traces the history and evolution of the language that eventually became the Human Rights section of the Good Friday Agreement. We hope that visualizing the development of that language will help us understand its context and significance. A wide range of documents are included, beginning with early drafts of the Joint Declaration and culminating in the final Agreement, and a wide range of actors are identified as part of the process of producing them. The mini-model is still incomplete at the moment, and we aim to expand it as we source more drafts of the various documents involved and the papers that put them in context.

Downing Street Declaration and Framework Documents

This mini-model is still under construction. The editors aim to assemble a comprehensive (but non-exhaustive) collection of drafts of the Downing Street Joint Declaration to track how the text developed over time. We are also working on a more comprehensive model that will include the meetings where the declaration was under consideration, track the process of amendment, and detail further annotations made to each draft. This detailed model is forthcoming in December 2023.

View Sessions by Date

Date Time Committee Description
1988-01-01 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) This session has been created editorially to show the representatives of the delegations involved in the drafting of the Joint Declaration joining the committee.
1989-01-01 00:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] This session has been created to show one of Father Reid's early position papers, which includes some of the ideas of the Joint Declaration in embryonic form.
1989-02-01 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] This session has been created to model another undated early paper from the archive of Tomás Ó Fiaich, received from Father Reid, and thought to be have been written by Martin Mansergh in 1989.
1991-10-06 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] This session has been modelled based on a citation from Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick. 'The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process.' Rev. and Updated ed. London: Mandarin, 1997 to show the initial Hume draft of the Joint Declaration (JD[1?]) being created. The editors hope to add further, primary sources for this draft in the future.
1991-12-16 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] The draft was spoken about at a meeting of the Prime Minister and Taoiseach on 4 December, and shown to Robin Butler by Dermot Nally at a subsequent meeting on 16 December. The text is almost identical to that attributed to Hume and dated to October 1991 by Mallie and McKittrick. This session is dated as 16 December to mark the first Butler-Nally meeting.
1992-02-21 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] The earliest evidence we currently have of JD3 is attached to a minute from William Fittall to Stephen Wall dated 21 February 1992.
1992-04-29 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] JD4 was handed over to John Chilcot and the Northern Ireland Office by John Hume on 29 April 1992. The editors have modelled it on that day, although it must also have existed prior to this. The editors have approximated the text of JD4 based on a detailed commentary by the Northern Ireland office produced on JD6.
1992-06-01 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] This session has been modelled based on a citation from Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick. 'The Fight for Peace: The Secret Story behind the Irish Peace Process.' Rev. and Updated ed. London: Mandarin, 1997 to show the second Sinn Fein (or Hume–Adams) draft of the Joint Declaration (JD[5?]) being created. The editors hope to add further, primary sources for this draft in the future.
1993-03-29 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] These two drafts are taken from Dermot Nally's papers. One of them is dated 29 March 1993, and the other is undated. They are labelled as 'Hume/Adams' with a handwritten note and are very similar to each other, the changes mainly being to paragraph 4.
1993-06-06 19:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown] Robin Butler met with the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, who handed over the latest draft of the Joint Declaration (JD6), which Reynolds noted had received PAC approval. We have modelled JD6 on this day, although it must have existed prior to this.
1993-06-08 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact date and time unknown]John Hume was unhappy with JD6 and informed John Chilcot on 8 June 1993 that he had an alternative draft.
1993-09-24 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The eighth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD8) was handed over to Quentin Thomas by Seán Ó hUiginn during an informal bilateral meeting on 24 September 1993.
1993-10-01 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] An updated draft of the Joint Declaration was handed over to Quentin Thomas by Seán Ó hUiginn on 1 October 1993, where it became JD9 in the British numbering system.
1993-10-04 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] After Quentin Thomas and Seán Ó hUiginn's informal bilateral meeting on 1 October 1993, changes were made to JD9 to turn it into the version which was negotiated on with the British delegation at a Butler-Nally meeting on 6 October 1993 (JD10). A handwritten note on a copy in Dermot Nally's papers suggests that these changes may have been made by Mansergh on 4 October 1993.
1993-10-06 11:15:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) The Butler-Nally Group met to discuss the latest version of the Joint Declaration (JD10), and amended it, producing a later draft with amendments ad referendum to the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach (JD11). The version as reported by the British government delegation differed slightly from the Irish government version.
1993-10-07 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The amendments made ad referendum to the Taoiseach were put to him. Some amendments were adopted and others were rejected. Some further changes were made to create JD12.
1993-10-08 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] Quentin Thomas reported back the latest Irish draft of the Joint Declaration (JD12), which he had had over the phone from Ó hUiginn. In taking it down, he had accidentally reordered the sentence on self-determination, so the British JD12 at this point diverges slightly from the Irish draft.
1993-10-15 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The British Government amended JD12 to include a reference to the constitutional guarantee. This version of the Joint Declaration was never shared with the Irish delegation, but it was shown to Jim Molyneaux on 18 November 1993. He had a very strong negative reaction to it.
1993-11-02 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The earliest copy of the Joint Declaration incorporating Eames' additions that we have found is in Dermot Nally's papers, dated 2 November 1993.
1993-11-09 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The thirteenth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD13) was finalised and conveyed to Quentin Thomas on 9 November. Quentin Thomas produced the first draft of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration.
1993-11-12 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] Jonathan Stephens sent a letter to Roderic Lyne including an assessment of the present position and next steps on the Joint Declaration Initiative. Attached at Annex B was an updated version of the Alternative British Draft of the Joint Declaration (12 November Draft).
1993-11-16 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] Archbishop Eames spoke to Albert Reynolds and persuaded him to make further changes to the text of the Joint Declaration, producing what the British would label JD14 when it was handed over to them on 18 November 1993.
1993-11-23 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration was further revised on 23 November 1993.
1993-11-25 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] This is the final internal version of the alternative British draft of the Joint Declaration, which was revised to reflect suggestions made by Jim Molyneaux in a bilateral meeting. It was shared with and rejected by the Taoiseach and Irish officials on 26 November 1993.
1993-12-01 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] JD14A was produced after a meeting between Ancram and Molyneaux on 30 November 1993 and includes the amendments suggested by the latter, as well as earlier British amendments proposed to JD14.
1993-12-07 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] The fifteenth draft of the Joint Declaration (JD15) was the working version of the text following the 7 December 1993 Butler/Nally meeting. It was written up on 7 December 1993 and dated accordingly.
1993-12-09 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] This draft, labelled JD15B, is the text of JD15 with the proposed British and Irish amendments.
1993-12-13 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] JD15C was the working text of the Joint Declaration as of 13 December 1993.
1993-12-13 15:45:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] This draft is a copy of the 7 December 1993 version of JD15 which has been annotated to include numerous amendments, including some from JD15B and C and others, following extensive back and forth between Butler and Nally on 13 December 1993. Although we have not yet found a clean copy, the editors have assumed that this would have been written up as JD16.
1993-12-14 16:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) JD17 was the working version of the text at 16.00 on 14 December 1993.
1993-12-14 17:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] JD18 was circulated later on 14 December 1993. Paragraph 10 was still disputed, along with the third sentence of paragraph 13.
1993-12-14 19:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] JD19 was circulated later on 14 December 1993. It was intended to be the final version of the text, but it is clear from comparison with JD20 that some small amendments were made during the checking meeting between David Blatherwick and Martin Mansergh.
1993-12-15 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) This was the final text of the Joint Declaration as published on 15 December 1993 [JD20].
1993-12-17 12:00:00 Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993) [Exact time unknown] An annotated version of JD20 for the use of the Prime Minister and the NIO was circulated on 17 December 1993.
1998-04-07 00:30:00 Prisoners Section of Mitchell Draft Early on Tuesday morning, the NIWC, along with the other parties to the All-Party Negotiations, received a copy of what became known as the 'Mitchell Draft'; the first incarnation of the Good Friday Agreement, drawn up by the Independent Chairmen and pulling together proposals that the parties had tabled and discussed over the previous two years. This session has been created to model a fax they received from NIACRO recommending amendments to the ‘Prisoners’ section of the draft. The NIWC incorporated these amendments into their working version of the document and added a few more of their own.
1998-04-08 09:00:00 Evolution of the Human Rights Language in the Good Friday Agreement We have created this session to show the various actors involved in the process of creating this language joining the committee. We intend to expand this list as we source more drafts of the various documents involved and the papers that put them in context.
1998-04-10 12:00:00 Evolution of the Human Rights Language in the Good Friday Agreement We have created this mini-model for Professor Christopher McCrudden's presentation to the Agreement 25 Conference at Queen's University, Belfast. It tracks how documents produced by various parties over a number of years contributed to a small section of text. By clicking on the document icon at the bottom of the timeline, you can see the text of the documents in their entirety and compare them to their 'ancestors'; when you click on the amendment icons above, you can see how they each propose to alter the text that eventually became the Human Rights section of the Good Friday Agreement. Nb: Since in this mini-model, as opposed to in our main projects, we are presenting only these documents rather than everything tabled during the course of a negotiation, we have decided to model them all in one session, using the date of the Agreement, so that the model is easier to navigate.

Sessions Chart

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Negotiation Statistics

Sources

10 historical records used for this dataset.

Process

3 committees met in 37 sessions.

Average 3.70 sessions each.

Dates

Dates from Friday, 01 January 1988 to Friday, 10 April 1998.

People

18 people in 14 voting delegations.

Top 5 most active people are:

Summary of person events:

  • Person join icon 16 join a committee.
  • Person leave icon leave a committee.
  • Person elect icon elections to a position.

Procedures

procedural motions considered.

Summary of procedural events:

  • Procedural motion icon procedural motion proposed.
  • Debate motion icon motions debated.

Documents

58 documents considered with 31 amendments presented.

Summary of document events:

  • Create a new document proposal 58 new documents created.
  • Document copied documents passed from another committee.
  • Document amended 28 amendments to a document proposed.
  • Debate a document proposal 1 debates on a proposal.

Decisions

24 number of decisions made.

Summary of decision made:

  • Vote adopt icon 10 proposals adopted.
  • Vote reject icon 1 proposals rejected.
  • Vote refer icon proposals referred to another committee.
  • Postpone debate icon debate of a proposal postponed.
  • Vote drop icon proposal dropped from discussion without a formal vote.
  • Vote drop icon some other decision on a proposal.

List of proposals by delegation

List of proposals by person

Writing Peace: Monica McWilliams Collection

Monica McWilliams is Emeritus Professor in the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University, and has campaigned tirelessly for peace and human rights in both Northern Ireland and the wider world for more than four decades. As co-founder of...

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