Ireland’s Charles and Diana wedding ‘snub’ along with five other curious tales
Finding a ‘face-saving’ name for the new NI police force; Trinity College Dublin takes offence; and Casement’s ‘black diaries’
State Papers
IRA got 75% of its funding in 2000 from fuel smuggling, UK inquiry found
Difference in fuel prices meant terrorists could profit by buying fuel in Republic and bringing it across Border, said Northern Ireland secretary Mandelson
Adams told British he was ‘totally discredited with IRA’ over failure to get prosecution amnesty
British government came under pressure from Sinn Féin in 2000 to give immunity to republicans who were ‘on the run’ for offences from before the Belfast Agreement
John Bowman: Peace deal forced Fianna Fáil to dial down ‘lost Six Counties’ rhetoric
State papers: Newly-released files show how the signatories to the Belfast Agreement came to view it as the least worst option
Peter Mandelson viewed by Irish officials as ‘arrogant’ in public but ‘insecure in private’
State papers: An MP colleague also remarked that Mandelson’s tunnel vision was his greatest strength and his greatest weakness
Priest brought Biafra refugees to Wicklow without permission – and other strange tales from Dublin and London files
Records released by Irish and British archives include details of a ‘republican’ artefact thief and a ‘radical’ UK proposal to hold asylum seekers on a Scottish island
Weapons monitor group threatened to quit over lack of progress by IRA and other paramilitaries
State papers: Canadian diplomat could not understand how ‘someone of Gerry Adams’s intellect’ failed to recognise benefits to Sinn Féin of decommissioning
Irish government ruled out McAleese meeting with loyalist protesters at Catholic school
State papers: Ahern viewed riots and disturbances around Holy Cross school in 2001 as sign of a ‘deeper malaise’ in Northern Ireland
Queen wrote to Mary Robinson to share ‘distress’ over Somalia crisis
State papers: After visiting refugee camps in Somalia the president gave an emotional press conference in which she criticised the UN’s approach to the camps and did not hide her anger about conditions
Bertie Ahern feared outbreak of violence between Provisional IRA and Real IRA in 2000, files show
State papers: Justice minister sought ‘pre-emptive round-up’ of 150 dissident republicans
Irish officials asked UK to drop Omagh bombing information appeal, files show
Civil servants feared it would anger Sinn Féin and put the progress of the peace process in jeopardy
Secret Irish government file examined prospect of redrawing Border, State papers show
State papers: 60% of Northern Ireland would be incorporated into the Republic, leaving just one of the North’s six counties fully intact, under proposal
X case ‘horror’, ‘gay bashing’, and republican ‘headbangers’: State papers shed light on a turbulent decade
Newly declassified files span 10 years in which the Republic became more liberal and Northern Ireland gained peace
Mayhew confessed to thinking Northern job would be ‘relatively undemanding’
Former Northern secretary saw the UUP leader David Trimble as ‘a deeply insecure leader’
George Bush showed little interest in Ireland but was focused on Iraq prior to 9/11
State papers: Election of new US president raised fears among Irish officials in 2001 that the White House shamrock ceremony would be scrapped
Senior Sinn Féin and unionist politicians set up ‘secret group’ to discuss deadlock in peace process
State papers: UUP leader David Trimble was seemingly unaware of meetings being held in 2001 with members of his own party
Blair told Mowlam to put abortion law reform ‘on ice’ 20 years before it was legalised in North
Prime minister’s private secretary wrote that Blair ‘sees little scope for bi-communal support for a change to the law’
‘A deeply insecure leader’ and ‘an amiable villain’: What civil servants had to say about North’s politicians
State papers published this week include confidential records showing what civil servants really thought about political leaders
Nuclear attack on Northern Ireland viewed as ‘possibility’ after 9/11
There were calls for decontamination units to operate at capacity while protective clothing and supplies of antidotes, needles and syringes must be ‘built up’, top civil servant urged
Doomed plan to create Premier League team ‘Belfast United’ detailed in files
State papers: Tony Blair wanted Wimbledon FC to move to Northern Ireland but senior civil servant warned it could be ‘another focus for sectarianism’
Jackie Kennedy asked for Irish cadets to be part of JFK funeral, files show
President Kennedy’s widow made the call less than 24 hours after her husband’s assassination in Dallas
BBC diplomatic drama in late 1990s raised security fears for British ambassador
Veronica Sutherland was alarmed that the depiction of a female British ambassador in Ireland might lead viewers to believe it was based on her
Sinn Féin complained about ‘painfully slow’ availability of TG4 in the North
State papers: Gerry Adams wrote to Irish and British governments about the TG4 issue in 2000, citing commitments in the Belfast Agreement
British feared McAleese attendance at Omagh memorial service would make queen look bad
Department of Foreign Affairs official told his British counterpart that as far as he was aware the prime minister and the royal family had ‘received nothing but praise for their gestures of sympathy’
Peace process has taught politicians how to grow tribal vote through stubbornness
Newly released State papers shed light on the years immediately after the Belfast Agreement, so much of which is still in dispute or open to interpretation
State papers 1993-2003: What files are being released this week?
Official records from Dublin, Belfast and London cover years dominated by planning scandals, the dawn of the Celtic Tiger and a new start for Northern Ireland
Gerry Adams lobbied for release of garda killers a year after conviction
State papers: British officials also raised issue of prisoner release, saying ‘life of a Garda’ could not be valued differently from that of a UK policeman
David Trimble was ‘despairing and hysterical’ over unionist leadership heave
State papers: Former NI first minister grew increasingly frustrated during 2000 and 2001 as the IRA refused to decommission
Single age of consent for gay and straight people would cause ‘backlash’, government advised 30 years ago
State papers: Higher age of consent for homosexuality was ‘optimum’ to avoid it being seen as ‘perfectly normal’, AG’s office said in 1993
Existence of top IRA mole Stakeknife was known in police circles three years before his unmasking
State papers: ‘British intelligence are reportedly fearful that this disclosure could dwarf the Rosemary Nelson scandal,’ note Department of Justice files
State papers: American do-gooders planned new town for the North
Credit card pioneer had plans to create a new town in Northern Ireland in 1972
Lloyd George’s Ireland or John Hume’s? The people gave their answer
Declassified State papers detail the journey to the Belfast Agreement, a deal some wholeheartedly endorsed but others reluctantly accepted
Ireland, Éire or the Republic? Official files show debate over name of the State
Constitution gives the name of the State as Éire or in the English language, Ireland
UK opposition to US creating envoy role for North detailed in files
Economic link between NI and Clinton’s home state was rejected on grounds Arkansas was ‘too poor’
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