Extent of British discomfort at commemorating Irish Famine revealed John Major said 1996 service would look like an apology and offend unionists, files show
Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 00:05 Éamon Phoenix, Mark Devenport
Irish emigrants embarking for America at Waterloo Docks, Liverpool, in 1850. Photograph: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images
The extent of British government discomfort at commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine is revealed in previously confidential files released today in Belfast.
Senior British officials regarded a decision by then minister of state Avril Doyle to press ahead with a concert in Liverpool in 1996 as “very awkward”.
Confirmation that the concert was going ahead came after prime minister John Major v
John Major blocked Irish famine event over apology A typical rural Irish house in the 19th century Éamon Phoenix
Former British Prime Minister John Major. Picture by Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire
Proposals to mark the 150th anniversary of the Great Famine with an ecumenical service in Liverpool to coincide with President Mary Robinson’s first visit to the UK were vetoed in 1996 by Prime Minister John Major.
Newly-released files show the service had been mooted for several years.
The possibility of a British event to mark the Famine was raised by Chris MacCabe from the Northern Ireland Office on August 15, 1994 in a note to officials.
IRA wanted to freeze Sinn Fein out of talks with British about ending Troubles
Newly released paper said the IRA leadership s least favoured approach to talks was to involve Sinn Fein figures
Gerry Adams with Martin McGuinness (Image: PA)
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peace talks
The IRA wanted to freeze Sinn Fein out of backchannel talks with Brits about ending the Troubles, state papers reveal
David Young
Updated: 27 Dec 2020, 18:42
THE IRA wanted to freeze Sinn Fein out of proposed backchannel talks with the Brits about ending the Troubles, it can now be revealed.
An internal Irish government communique reported that the IRA Army Council informed two prison chaplains in spring 1990 that it was prepared to enter exploratory discussions with the UK.
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Reverend Monsignor John Murphy
But the newly released paper said the IRA leadership’s least favoured approach to talks was to involve Sinn Fein figures.