Downing Street Declaration
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The Downing Street Declaration was a joint declaration issued on 15 December 1993 by the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
,
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...
, and the Irish
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
( English:
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
),
Albert Reynolds Albert Martin Reynolds (3 November 1932 – 21 August 2014) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1992 to 1994. He held various cabinet positions between 1979 and 1991, including Ministe ...
, at the British Prime Minister's office in
10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...
. The declaration affirmed both the right of the people of Ireland to
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
, and that
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
would be transferred to the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
from the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
only if a majority of its population was in favour of such a move. It also included, as part of the prospective of the so-called "Irish dimension", the
principle of consent Principle of consent is a term used in the context of the Northern Ireland peace process and is one of the key points of the Good Friday Agreement. The principle asserts both the legitimacy of the aspiration to a United Ireland and the legitimac ...
that the people of the
island of Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of th ...
had the exclusive right to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent. The latter statement, which later would become one of the points of the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...
, was key to produce a positive change of attitude by the republicans towards a negotiated settlement. The joint declaration also pledged the governments to seek a peaceful constitutional settlement, and promised that parties linked with paramilitaries (such as
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
) could take part in the talks, so long as they abandoned violence.


Significance

The Downing Street Declaration demonstrated to republicans and loyalists that political differences can be "negotiated and resolved exclusively by peaceful political means". Contrary to the suggestion that an inclusive settlement "would compromise no position or principle", the history of the declaration had already shown that compromise on all sides was the indispensable foundation of the Northern Ireland peace process. The declaration, after a meeting between Sinn Féin President
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...
and American congressman Bruce Morrison, which was followed by a joint statement issued by Adams and
John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...
, was considered sufficient by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
to announce a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
on 31 August 1994 which was then followed on 13 October by an announcement of a ceasefire from the
Combined Loyalist Military Command The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for Ulster loyalism, loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Commit ...
. This ceasefire allowed Sinn Fein to be admitted to the "democratic process". The Downing Street Declaration was significant because it addressed major ideological obstacles to peace in Northern Ireland, such as the right of the people of Ireland to self-determination and the principle of consent: "The British Government agree that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish". Indeed, the Declaration addressed the "boundary question" of who would be allowed to vote in a referendum, which it stated the people of the island of Ireland. Therefore, the idea of self-determination gave legitimacy to any constitutional decision taken by the people of the island of Ireland for the people of the island of Ireland. Subsequently, this meant that these issues were generally accepted by the time the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...
negotiations began, and did not significantly stall the 1998 peace agreement.


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, 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
SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...
and members of
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
into conversation with
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...
and other
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
leaders. 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'.


Hume-Adams Talks

The exercise of self-determination and the role of the British government had been a key component of the 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. 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'. 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 The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...
. 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'.


Early Drafts

Peter Brooke'
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, 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). 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. 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, 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. Major had vowed at the outset of his premiership to put Northern Ireland 'on the front burner', 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'. During September to November, the text took shape and incorporated amendments from Jim Molyneaux, Archbishop Eames, and Reverend Roy Magee, 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. 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. 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'. 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.


See also

*
Principle of consent Principle of consent is a term used in the context of the Northern Ireland peace process and is one of the key points of the Good Friday Agreement. The principle asserts both the legitimacy of the aspiration to a United Ireland and the legitimac ...


Notes


External links


Photos

Recordings
of the Inaugural Meeting of the
College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund ...
held on the Downing Street Declaration, reuniting Sir John Major, Sir Roderic Lyne and Martin Mansergh in November 2007.
Downing Street Declaration
Department of Foreign Affairs. Ireland.

The Prime Minister speaks to the House of Commons about the Downing Street/Joint Declaration.

cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2016. {{John Major Political history of Northern Ireland Ireland–United Kingdom relations 1993 in the United Kingdom 1993 in Northern Ireland 1993 in Ireland 1993 in international relations Northern Ireland peace process December 1993 in the United Kingdom