What Roles do Civil Servants of Governments Play in Ireland

in Respect of Policy in Northern Ireland?

Primacy of Ministers who are Elected: Not Just a

Shibboleth but a Reality - Certainly in Ireland

• - importance of Taoisigh and Ministers at the Coalfare (?) Summit and Ministerial Meetings

• - all decisions/positions on major issues cleared at Ministerial level, often at Government level (memo for Government)

• - but still great deal less for officials to do

Roles Played by Officials • - composing, choosing, selling, testing formulate of words; they can act as bridges, signals,

messages and can, potentially, command agreement on part of different sides, with different interests/objectives; pluses and minuses of "constructive ambiguity"

• - analysing interests/objectives/priorities of different parties and • ~ briefing ministers orally• ~ writing papers/reviews • ~ negotiating (examples below)• ~ devising and establishing structures and institutions and then operating these• ~ going to meetings - lots of meetings!• ~ acting as impresario/organizer of events and programmes• ~ advising on policy - orally or on paper - and on reactions to events; and devising or adapting

concepts• ~ writings speeches for Minister or officials or other public statements, such as answers to

Parliamentary Questions • ~ drafting (writing) new legislation, including to amend Constitution of Ireland• ~ assessing proposals for economic development• ~ considering other applications for money e.g. from academic or reconciliation bodies• ~ gathering information; by reading and through contacts, in person, on phone, etc. etc. • ~ maintaining and extending informal contacts• ~ consulting legal advisers

Examples of Wordsmithing-1• (1) Anglo-Irish Summits of 21.5.1980 (teapot summit) and 8.12.1980: "unique relationship" and

"totality of relationship"• - pre-negotiation of communiqu?s• ~ May: 20 cut outs of phrases• ~ December: totality, etc. - coined in November 1980 by senior British official• - December circumstances: hunger strike, security, Maggie sleep in Dublin Castle, loo; top level

British delegation; Rhodesia precedent, Lord Carrington• - Maggie: "what does it mean?"; Lord Carrington's answer• - interests/aims of different actors; subtlety blown by Brian Lenihan (senior); Maggie in Maastricht • - longevity of phrase; it is in the Good Friday Agreement• (2) Language re: authority, power, function, accountabilities of North-South Ministerial Council

and North-South implementation bodies under Good Friday Agreement• - "challenge to present matters in such a way that republicans would interpret words as the

embryo of a united Ireland while unionists would argue that the same words amounted to an endorsement of partition"

• - compromises: legal origins versus accountability• ~ numbers - definite-ness versus limits• (3) Wording of paragraph 5.7 of 1984 Report of the New Ireland Forum• another retired Supreme Court Justice

Examples of Wordsmithing-2• - "The particular structure of political unity which the Forum would wish to see

established is a unitary state, achieved by agreement and consent, embracing the whole island of Ireland and . . ."

• ~ deadlock in Forum, downsides of that• ~ Hume passes chalice to Mallon; trip to Markethill at weekend, drafting language

there, selling in Dublin on Monday• ~ Mallon to Haughey, Haughey to Hume, Hume to Fitzgerald • (4) Article 1 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1985• - "The two Governments• (a) affirm that any change in the status of Northern Ireland would only come about

with the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland . . . " • ~ "would" or "could," "status," or "constitutional status"• ~ precedent for "would" in joint communiqu? of 21 May 1980 (teapot) so Fianna Fail

criticism spiked in advance• ~ also protection from constitutional challenge; stood to us when such a challenge

was taken by the Unionist McGimpsey brothers• ~ Supreme Court passed statement as no more than a statement of predictive

expectation but said Articles 2 and 3 of Irish Constitution were a constitutional imperative for Irish Government

Examples of Wordsmithing-3• (5) Irish Government Dossier of New Evidence in Relation to Bloody Sunday• - television programmes by British T.V. Stations• - secret confession by British paratrooper participant• - radio traffic logs: ham operator• - strong pressure from relatives of victims and from inured• - editor-in-chief of dossier, drawn up by 3 man team• - presented to Tony Blair by Taoiseach John Bruton: powerful case, hard to deny• - decision to establish Bloody Sunday Tribunal• - need to restrain colleagues' exuberance with words• (6) Arrangements and Terms of Reference for Judicial Inquiry in South into Dublin and Monaghan

Bombings• - bombings on 30 May 1974; 33 killed• - inadequacies and early closure of police investigation• - efforts over years through questions to Ministers - unavailing 'straight bat' by Department of

Justice• - T.V. programme - again by British TV station but still straight bat• - Dublin bombing occurred in Dublin Central, constituency of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, so

vulnerable to pressure from grassroots• - meetings with relatives; Saturday morning negotiation of terms of reference of inquiry, later

conducted under chair of former Chief Justice and, after his early death,

Negotiating • - different negotiating partners: • ~ our own colleagues/Departments• e.g. re: functions and powers of North-South implementation bodies,

Eamonn Kennedy• ~ British officials, run ups to summits• ~ Northern Ireland officials and unionist representatives on worming

out Strand 2 of Good Friday Agreement (Irish offices in Stormont - if 1985, quarter of a million protesters outside; number/frequency of NSMC meetings)

• ~ Sinn Fein top people in Dublin castle on Thursday night before Friday morning meeting of drafting committee of Forum for Peace and Reconciliation

• - records of Pat Doherty (enforcer) and Rita O'Hare (enticer) but then apparent bona-fides

• - issues were word formulae around self-determination and consent: huge republican baggage on these issues

Devising and Establishing Structures

• - words/concepts have to be often translated into structures and institutions• - examples• ~ 1981 Irish-British Joint Study on Possible new Institutional Structures• * superior experience of British side• * but helps to know what you want• > Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council - was platform for 1985, later 1998 East-West institution

with Irish droit de regard over NI• > Anglo-Irish/British-Irish Parliamentary Body• ~ 1984 start of New Ireland Forum: party leaders' meeting to agree Terms of Reference; "the

shape of the table" (of Paris talks on Vietnam)• ~ representation strengths in 1994 Forum for Peace and Reconciliation• * extra seat for Alliance• * observers (?) for loyalist prisoners after unsuccessful meeting with loyalist parties in Onaker

Home, Belfast• * adjustment for SDLP, compared with 1984-85 Forum, given major aim in 1994 was to nurse SF

along• ~ Post-GFA working out of structures for North-South and East-West• * location of NSMC secretariat - Armagh - reasons for this• > financing• > personnel issues re: cross jurisdiction bodies, et. etc.

Attending Meetings • - over the years, with SDLP delegations• - in Multi-Party Talks, 1996-98, every morning with British, Senator

George Mitchell, his co-chairman and staff, and throughout the day, with many other delegations

• - with families of hunger strikers (1981), of victims of bombings (Dublin, Omagh, RUC widows)

• - as part of various official North-South or Irish-British working groups

• * Centre Group, post-GFA on implementation of Strands 2 and 3 (McDonalds!)

• * Liaison Group in run-in to GFA• * advisory committee of International Fund for Ireland (political

pitfalls, balances)• - as part of devising, co-ordinating Irish Government policy• * Co-ordination Committee of all relevant departments, post GFA

Orchestrator of Events/Impresario

• - Clinton visits: US Secret Service "take no prisoners"• - big advance parties, security arrangements• - location of events; balances to be struck (Bank of Ireland)• - Guinness Storehouse; top-floor relegation for captains of industry;

but all complaints re: Celia on the platform where Clinton spoke• - First Meeting of North-South Ministerial Council, Armagh, 1999• ~ appeal to Hume• ~ failure to foresee visual impact of fleet of Merceda carrying Irish

Ministers (not privy to RUC plans for security) • - 20 December 1994: first public hearing meeting of Forum for

Peace and Reconciliation (started 28.10.1994) • ~ prisoner issues• ~ victims• ~ powerful impact, helped establish credibility of Forum

Policy and Concepts

• - research: ahead of 1981• - joint studies: Nordic Council, Benelux, Franco-

German Treaty of Co-operation, Antarctic (!); later, in 1991-1993, evolution of international interpretation of self- determination

• - commissioning studies in Fera (?)• ~ Boyle/Hadden on Human Rights Protection;

Eide (Norway) on Protection of Group Rights; Studies on Potential for Single Island Economy

Speeches and Parliamentary Questions

• - PQs a weekly task: way to give reactions to "events" and to incrementally develop detail of policy and send political signals of this

• - lots of speaking engagements and therefore speeches

• - not the same resources as in US and UK

Legislation • - 1999 British Irish Agreement Act• ~ build up block by block over months• ~ problems of different Irish and British styles of drafting laws• ~ rush at the end, unprecedented all-night session by Office of

Parliamentary Draftsmen• - 19th Amendment to the Constitution Act 1998• ~ people, not territory• ~ need to retain leverage; delayed application of amendments to old

Articles 2 and 3, until other parties fulfilled their part of the bargain• ~ need to overcome restrictive effort, re: North-South of old Article 3• ~ Diaspora clause• ~ different inputters into the wording• ~ need to sell it to Fianna Fail, so draw on "sacred texts" including

Lemass 1963 Report

Gathering Information/Extending Contracts

• - organizations in Britain e.g. British-Irish Rights Watch, Sister Sarah

• - British-Irish Association: annual conferences a framework for contacts/exchanges - media, military, police, officials

• - BIA as a back-channel in lead up to December 1980 Summit

• - politicians in North - Hume, Mallon, Currie, Logue• - Department of Foreign Affairs, "travellers" - contacts

with all sides in Northern Ireland (Bill Craig, lawyers, bishops and clergy of all denominations, police, military, etc. etc.)

Legal Advisers

• - shared building with officials of Office of the Attorney General

• - "wise owls"; lawyers who give you solutions, not problems