Editing Downing Street Declaration (section)

== The Origins and Negotiation of the Downing Street Declaration ==

=== Father Alec Reid ===
Although the final declaration was a triumph of diplomacy and negotiation between the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, its origins are more complex, and can be traced to the work of the Redemptorist priest, [[Alec Reid|Father Alec Reid]]. The idea of a joint declaration emerged from his attempts to create a pan-Nationalist front in the late 1980s by bringing John Hume's [[Social Democratic and Labour Party|SDLP]] and members of [[Fianna Fáil]] into conversation with [[Gerry Adams]] and other [[Sinn Féin]] leaders.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mallie |first=Eamonn |title=The Fight for Peace |publisher=William Heinemann |year=1996 |isbn=0-434-00308-5 |pages=}}</ref> Reid argued that a declaration by the British government which recognised the right of the Irish people to self-determination would enable a Republican ceasefire and he called for an Irish Peace Conference to 'persuade' the British government to make such a declaration and to adopt a policy that would allow for the creation of a 'new, independent Ireland'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reid |first=Alec |date=1989 |title=Proposals for a Democratic Overall Political and Diplomatic Strategy for Justice and Peace |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/352/resource_item/23591 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: Tomás Ó Fiaich, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford)}}</ref>

=== Hume-Adams Talks ===
The exercise of self-determination and the role of the British government had been a key component of the [[Hume–Adams dialogue|Hume-Adams]] talks in 1988. In the 26-page record of their inter-party dialogue the term 'self-determination' appeared no fewer than 54 times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Ian |date=2023 |title=The Making of the Downing Street Declaration |url=https://www.quillproject.net/m2/static//img/features/downing_street_declaration/McBride_Making_of_the_Joint_Declaration.pdf |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: The Quill Project, Pembroke College (Oxford, 2023)}}</ref> While Sinn Fein attributed the essence of the Irish problem to Britain's 'colonial interference', Hume argued that the British no longer had selfish interest in maintaining their presence in Ireland, and that the focus should instead be on resolving the divisions within Ireland itself over how self-determination was exercised, by persuading and obtaining the consent of the Unionist population for a unified Ireland, something the Sinn Féin delegation described as a 'Unionist veto'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinn Féin |first=SDLP |date=1988 |title=The Sinn Fein/SDLP Talks |url=https://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/15215 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Sinn Fein}}</ref> Hume's proposed solution that would enable a divided Ireland to exercise collective self-determination was dual referendums in both the North and the South, a concept that would feature not only in the Downing Street Declaration, but later in the [[Good Friday Agreement]]. These early ideas and discussions were refined through Reid's dialogue with [[Martin Mansergh]] whose commentary on Reid's proposals represents one of the earliest attempts to reconcile the 'inalienable right' of the Irish people to 'the exercise in common of self-determination without external intervention' with the practical need to seek the consent of 'both parts of Ireland'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Archive |first=OFCA74056 |date=1989 |title=Discussion Paper Outlining Principles for a Solution and Proposals for a Peace Forum |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/352/resource_item/23588 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: Tomás Ó Fiaich, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, 2023)}}</ref>

=== Early Drafts ===
[[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]]'s [https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/351/resource_item/22823 Whitbread speech] in November 1990 gave new impetus to the initiative. Brooke stated publicly, as recommended by Hume, that the 'British Government has no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland', wording that would be incorporated into the final declaration. Perhaps buoyed by this initial success and its cautious welcome in Republican circles,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gallagher |first=Dermot |date=1991 |title=Anthony Coughlan and the Brooke Speech |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/353/resource_item/24179 |website=Sinn Féin 1984-1990, NAI, 2017/10/17/S16281E, Writing Peace: National Archives of Ireland, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, accessed 2023)}}</ref> in October 1991, Hume went on to draft what is generally accepted to be the first full version of the Joint Declaration, published in Mallie and McKittrick (1996).<ref name=":0" /> Borrowing language from earlier Reid papers, the opening paragraphs lamented the 'tragedy and suffering' caused by the 'legacy of history' and past failures to resolve the conflict, and committed the two governments to cooperation in the interests of the 'future welfare and prosperity of both parts of Ireland'. This endeavour is set in the context of broader European integration, an aspect which would be toned down by British officials in later versions. Paragraph 4 was at the heart of Hume's declaration. The British Prime Minister was to declare Britain no longer had any ‘selfish, strategic, political or economic interest’ in Ireland. Its sole interest was to promote peace and agreement among the inhabitants of the island. The audience was the Republican movement, as Hume endeavoured to remove the justification given for the armed struggle. Later versions of the Declaration returned, on British insistence, to the original Whitbread formula of 'no selfish strategic or economic interest' to avoid the implication that the British government was entirely indifferent to the future of Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Coakley |first1=John |last2=Todd |first2=Jennifer |date=2020-01-15 |title=Negotiating a Settlement in Northern Ireland, 1969-2019 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198841388.001.0001 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198841388.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-884138-8 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In Paragraph 5, the Taoiseach reciprocated by affirming that the exercise of the self-determination by the people of Ireland could only be achieved 'with the agreement and consent of the people of Northern Ireland'. The final paragraph indicated the intention to establish a permanent Irish Peace Convention to enable dialogue about Ireland's political future.

=== British-Irish Negotiations ===
The British government was first shown Hume's draft in December 1991. In 1992 further versions of the Declaration were drafted by Hume and Adams and shown to both governments,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Quill Project |url=https://www.quillproject.net/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=www.quillproject.net}}</ref> but the initiative began to develop greater momentum in 1993 with Albert Reynolds lending his weight to it, interrupting his holiday to hand over the latest version to Sir Robin Butler on 6 June 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CJ4/9296 |first=The National Archives of the UK (TNA) |date=6 June 1993 |title=Enclosure: Aide Mémoire from the Irish Government Regarding JD6 |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/351/resource_item/22823 |website=Writing Peace: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford) |access-date=2023-12-12}}</ref> Major had vowed at the outset of his premiership to put Northern Ireland 'on the front burner',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Helen |date=October 2000 |title=John Major, ''The Autobiography'', HarperCollins, London, 1999, xxiii+774 pp., £25.00. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s004727940023612x |journal=Journal of Social Policy |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=697–726 |doi=10.1017/s004727940023612x |s2cid=144933137 |issn=0047-2794|url-access=subscription }}</ref> but he was terrified of the fall out of and Unionist reaction if it emerged that he had been involved in drafting a secret agreement, particularly one which had emerged from John Hume's talks with Sinn Féin. Initially British officials would not then negotiate a joint text, although they did provide some comments. As time went on, however, the responsibility for drafting was devolved to Seán Ó hUiginn and Quentin Thomas. While the British officially refrained from drafting, they were happy to supply 'texts and references'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O hUiginn |first=Sean |date=10 September 1993 |title=Meeting of the Nally-Butler Group – 10 September 1993 |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/341/resource_item/23450 |website=Writing Peace: Dermot Nally Collection, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, accessed 2023)}}</ref> During September to November, the text took shape and incorporated amendments from [[James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead|Jim Molyneaux]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lyne |first=Roderic |date=30 November 1993 |title=Record of a Meeting between John Major, Michael Ancram and Jim Molyneaux on 29 November 1993 at 22.20 |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/351/resource_item/22935 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford)}}</ref> Archbishop Eames, and Reverend Roy Magee,<ref name=":1" /> designed to make the text more palatable to the Unionist population, including the list of rights which would feature in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mansergh |first=Martin |date=29 September 1993 |title=Meeting with Reverend Roy Magee |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/341/resource_item/23441 |website=Writing Peace: Dermot Nally Collection, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, accessed 2023)}}</ref>

With the text poised and agreement apparently close in late November 1993, the whole initiative was nearly derailed when Robin Butler and David Blatherwick handed Albert Reynolds an alternative British draft on 26 November 1993, on the basis that they feared the current text would be unacceptable to a Unionist audience. Reynolds was furious, feeling that years of work and painstaking negotiation over precise phrases had been undermined.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O hUiginn |first=Sean |date=26 November 1993 |title=Meeting in Reynolds' Office - 26 November 1993 |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/341/resource_item/23485 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: Dermot Nally Collection, Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, accessed 2023)}}</ref> The fallout of this incident overshadowed the Anglo-Irish summit of 3 December, but neither leader wanted to walk away from the initiative, and committed themselves 'to continue working urgently for a successful outcome'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lyne |first=Roderic |date=3 December 1993 |title=Letter from Roderic Lyne to Jonathan Stephens Enclosing Records of Anglo-Irish Summit Meetings on 3 December 1993 |url=https://www.quillproject.net/resource_collections/351/resource_item/22924 |access-date=12 December 2023 |website=Writing Peace: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Quill Project at Pembroke College (Oxford, accessed 2023)}}</ref> The task of refining the text was delegated once more to Seán Ó hUiginn and Quentin Thomas, with final amendments made on 14 December 1993. The text was broadcast from a live press conference in Downing Street on 15 December 1993 and widely distributed in Northern Ireland with an accompanying note from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the following day.