Arrangements for the Talks - Meeting with the Unionist Delegations on 9 May 12:18

Strand 3:

Any agreed outcome could only be implemented by the two Governments and it was thus necessary to devise a means of presenting the views of others. The issue of how views would be presented in the third strand should be cleared up now. It would be impossible to do that without talking to the Irish Government and that conversation would have implications for any suggestions about the venue of Strand 2. The Unionists wished Strand 3 to be concluded in London; against the background of the proposal that strand two should be held in a neutral country the Irish might well take the view that a substantial part of the third strand should take place in Dublin.

Unionists were not ruling out Dublin as a location for meetings of the third strand; they were simply saying that the final meeting had to be in London.

Strand 2:

The Unionist position was that the Secretary of State should chair Strand 2.

General Approach to Negotiations:

It was not sensible to proceed and only to allow disagreement at the very end.