It is the time of year when, in Dublin, London and Belfast, a fresh selection of State Papers is released for public view. Records must be at least 30 years old and this year's cut-off point is 1973.
This annual ritual has become an opportunity to reassess the events of the past and, hopefully, gain new insights from the files and records presented for consideration.
For people in both parts of this island, the big event of 1973 was the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement when governments and politicians strove to bring peace to Northern Ireland against a background of ever-mounting casualty figures. It was a noble endeavour which, unfortunately, failed to achieve a permanent solution. However, lessons were learned which have been incorporated into the more recent Belfast Agreement.
South of the Border, the Fianna Fáil monopoly of Government since 1957 ended with the election in February 1973 of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition. This coincided with Ireland's entry into the EEC which had been negotiated by Fianna Fáil and enthusiastically supported by Fine Gael. The Labour ministers who had opposed full membership now played their full roles representing Ireland at EEC ministerial meetings.
But 1973 was above all the year when power-sharing was introduced into Northern Ireland after more than 50 years of monolithic unionist rule. The Cabinet papers show the intensity of the struggles behind the scenes as London tried to sell power-sharing to unionists and to cut back the ambitious role sought for the Council of Ireland by Dublin and the SDLP. The British papers portray the Dublin ministers in a rather unflattering light, based on the reports of the ambassador in Dublin, Sir Arthur Galsworthy. But this seems to be from pique at how effectively they performed at Sunningdale where "they conceded hardly anything".
Yet it seems strange from this 30-year perspective why Dr Garret FitzGerald's proposal to protest to the Libyan leader, Col Gadafy, about supplying arms to the IRA, was not accepted by the Cabinet. The interception of the vessel, Claudia, with its lethal cargo destined for the Provisionals surely warranted such a response. Perhaps security aspects have not permitted the release of all the details of this episode.
In all these matters, a balance has to be struck between the public's right to know and the level of discretion and confidentiality needed for the conduct of official business. But it is time to take another look at the 30-year rule, which seems more and more anachronistic in the current climate. The recent Hutton Inquiry in London saw confidential e-mails being displayed for public view a short time after they had been written.
In this regard, the public will have to wait another year before gaining access to the files relating to the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings, provided these are not also categorised as "restricted" or seen to have disappeared as the recent Barron report indicated.