- Event type: CREATE_FROM
Northern Ireland Downing Street Joint Declaration (1993)
WORK IN PROGRESS - This project is still under development. It models a series of formal and informal negotiations which led to the publication, in December 1993, of a declaration issued jointly by the British and Irish Governments. The Joint Declaration was a critical policy document which paved the way for a ceasefire and the entry of Sinn Féin into formal talks. It also laid out a shared set of principles – including, crucially, self-determination for the people of Ireland subject to the consent of the people of Northern Ireland – which would come to underpin the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and provide a framework for its ratification.
British Government
This committee has been created to model internal British Government documents and meetings.
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Session 21406: 1993-09-24 12:00:02
[Exact time unknown] The British delegation received a report of the informal meeting between Thomas and Ó hUiginn, including the revised Irish version of the Joint Declaration (JD8) and a further revision of paragraph 4 worked up during the meeting on an informal basis.
Document View:
Paragraph 4 of JD8 as Revised by Thomas and Ó hUiginn
[Paragraph 4 of JD8 as Revised by Thomas and Ó hUiginn]
4. The Prime Minister reiterates on behalf of the British Government that they have no selfish strategic political or economic interest in Northern Ireland. Their primary interest is to see peace, stability and reconciliation established by agreement among all the people who inhabit the island, and they will work together with the Irish Government to achieve such an agreement, which will embrace the totality of relationships. They acknowledge the legitimacy of any form of self-determination for Ireland as a whole which secures agreement on the basis of consent, North and South, of the people living in Ireland. They accept that such agreement may, as of right, take the form of agreed independent structures for the island as a whole. They reaffirm as a binding obligation that they will, for their part, introduce the necessary legislation to give effect to this, or to any measure of agreement on future relationships in Ireland which the people living in Ireland may themselves freely and collectively determine without external impediment and on a basis of [joint] North-South consent. They believe that the people of Britain would wish, in friendship to all sides, to encourage the people of Ireland to reach agreement on how they may live together in [unity] and harmony and in partnership, with respect for their diverse traditions and with full recognition of the special links and the unique relationship with exist between the peoples of Britain and Ireland. The role of the British Government will be to encourage, assist and enable such agreement over a period through a process of dialogue and cooperation based on full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions in Ireland.
Decisions yet to be taken
- Paragraph 4 of JD8 as Revised by Thomas and Ó hUiginn (introduced on 1993-09-24 12:00:02 - CREATE_FROM - e1060303) [This document]
Document Timeline
- Paragraph 4 of JD8 as Revised by Thomas and Ó hUiginn (introduced on 1993-09-24 12:00:02 - CREATE_FROM - e1060303) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]