Editing Downing Street Declaration (section)

=== 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.