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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The Provisional IRA could impose its view on Sinn Fein, but the reverse was not the case, Catholic Primate Cahal Daly believed in 1990. His view prompted Irish officials to question the merits of the
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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.
The IRA did not want Sinn Fein involved in proposed back channel talks with the British about ending the Troubles.
The message from a senior Irish official to colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has been newly-released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule.
The IRA s Army Council told two prison chaplains in the spring of 1990 that it was prepared to enter exploratory talks with the UK, according to the internal Irish government communique.
The two chaplains at the Maze prison near Lisburn, Rev Will Murphy and Fr John Murphy, had been trying to encourage prisoners from both sides to move away from violence.