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Abstract
This article looks at the backchannel dialogue that took place between the Provisional IRA and the British government from 1972 to 1975, a time when violence was at its peak. Interest in this notoriously murky subject has grown in recent years. Articles, several book-length narrative histories and a biography have covered its various aspects. But, using new archival and oral sources (including an exclusive interview with a member of the British 1975 talks-team), a narrative of the backchannels is presented before a new interpretation is given. Above all this study concludes that, behind its hard-line rhetoric and uncompromising violence, a significant element of the Provisional IRA was interested in, and actively explored, a political solution to the conflict within months of the start of the Troubles.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank a number of people for helping with this article. Thanks are due to King's College London's Sargeaunt fund for the Travel Award I received to fund my research in Ireland in the summer of 2010. I am grateful for the courtesy and efficiency of the staff at the National Archives in Kew, the archives in the LSE and the Special Collections in the James Hardiman library of the CitationNUI Galway. Those I interviewed I thank not only for putting aside time for me but also for the frankness with which they spoke. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on a draft. Friends and family deserve recognition for supporting me during the months I spent working on this article. Finally, my thanks to Dr Michael Kerr of King's, whose kind and steady advice from the beginning made it possible.
Notes
1. From Our Correspondent, ‘Bomb Claim by IRA’, The Times, 5 March 1970.
2. Peace moves with the IRA, 25 April 1973, State Papers, CitationNRA, FCO 87/221.
3. K.C. Thom to W.K.K. White, 25 April 1973, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/178.
4. CitationTaylor, Brits; Provos; Citation Talking to Terrorists .
5. CitationTaylor, The Secret Peacemaker.
6. CitationWhite, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.
7. CitationWhite, ‘The 1975 British–Provisional IRA Truce in Perspective’, 224.
8. CitationCraig, ‘From Backdoors and Back Lanes to Backchannels’, 97–117.
9. CitationCraig, ‘From Backdoors and Back Lanes to Backchannels’, 112.
10. CitationO'Dochartaigh, ‘“The Contact”’.
11. CitationBew, Frampton, and Gurruchaga, Talking to Terrorists.
12. CitationBew, Frampton, and Gurruchaga, Talking to Terrorists, 48.
13. CitationMumford, ‘Covert Peacemaking’, 633–48.
14. CitationMumford, ‘Covert Peacemaking’, 639.
15. CitationKerr, The Destructors.
16. CitationCallaghan, A House Divided, 171.
17. IRA peace proposals, 9 March 1971, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/134.
18. CitationDeutsch and Magowan, Northern Ireland, 171.
19. Peck to UK Rep Belfast, ‘Provisional IRA’, 28 March 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/2.
20. Letter from ‘D.H.’ to unknown, 30 March 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/2.
21. Dermot Mullane, ‘Three Point Peace Offer by the IRA’, Irish Times, 14 June 1972.
22. Woodfield, meeting with the IRA, 20 June 1972, State Papers, NRA, PREM 15/1009.
23. CitationSharrock and Devenport, Man of War, 101.
24. Woodfield, meeting with the IRA, 20 June 1972, State Papers, NRA, PREM 15/1009.
25. Quoted in CitationTaylor, Provos, 138–9.
26. Whitelaw, 22 June 1972, CitationHansard, vol. 839, col. 722.
27. Note of meeting, 7 July 1972, State Papers, NRA, PREM 15/1010.
28. The IRA truce, 26 June–10 July 1972, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/1456.
29. Whitelaw, 10 July 1972, Hansard, vol. 840, col. 1179.
30. Meeting between Paul Channon and John O'Connell, 17 July 1972, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/134.
31. Interview with CitationJoe Haines, Tonbridge, 20 July 2010.
32. The IRA truce, 26 June–10 July 1972, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/1456.
33. Whitelaw, 24 July 1972, Hansard, vol. 841, col. 1329.
34. Meeting between Irish ambassador and Heath, 2 August 1972, State Papers, NRA, PREM 15/1012.
35. Steele to Private Office, FCO, 10 October 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/4. Indicating that this intermediary was Brendan Duddy are Steele's comments in this telegram that this person's views were ‘strongly republican, but expresses them in a sensible and moderate way. He does not personally believe in violence.’ The fact that the identity of this intermediary was so well guarded also implies it was Duddy.
36. Steele to Woodfield, the Provisional IRA, 22 September 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/4.
37. Steele to Woodfield, 13 November 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/4.
38. Steele to NIO, 26 February 1973, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/221.
39. Peace moves with the IRA, 25 April 1973, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/221.
40. Note of Whitelaw meeting with Vivian Simpson, 7 May 1973, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/221.
41. Galsworthy to FCO, 17 May 1973, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/178.
42. Record of Events, 12 September 1973, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/319.
43. Douglas-Home to Dublin, 18 February 1974, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/288.
44. Douglas-Home to Dublin, 14 February 1974, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/288.
45. Steele to Private Office, FCO, 10 October 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/4.
46. Interview with British official, London, 20 September 2010.
47. Oatley in CitationPowell, Talking to the Enemy, Episode 1, ‘First Contact’.
48. Interview with CitationBrendan Duddy, Derry, 31 December 2008 (conducted by Dr Michael Kerr).
49. Taylor, Provos, 170.
50. Interviews with Brendan Duddy and British official.
51. CitationClarke and Johnston, Martin McGuinness, 102; interviews with CitationOfficer X, London, 27 August and 3 September 2010, and British official.
52. Interview with British official.
53. Kerr, The Destructors, 269.
54. Church meeting with the IRA, 19 December 1974, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/859.
55. IRA statement announcing ceasefire, 20 December 1974, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/2263.
56. Letter from clergy to Rees, 27 December 1974, State Papers, NRA, PREM 16/515.
57. Taylor, Provos, 177.
58. Taylor, The Secret Peacemaker.
59. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, 225.
60. IRA statement extending the ceasefire, 2 January 1975, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/859.
61. Taylor, Provos, 178.
62. Rees statement to parliament, 14 January 1975, State Papers, NRA, PREM 16/515.
63. Statement by the IRA ending the ceasefire, 16 January 1975, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/859.
64. ‘Background to renewal of truce and subsequent negotiations’, 17 January 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
65. ‘Formal Meeting’, 18 January 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
66. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
67. Interview with British official.
68. ‘Formal Meeting’, 19 January 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
69. ‘Terms for a Bilateral Truce’, 20 January 1975 and ‘British Response’, 3 February 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
70. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, 227.
71. ‘Formal Meeting’, 7 February 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
72. Galsworthy to FCO, ‘IRA Ceasefire’, 10 February 1975, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/460.
73. Political review, 24 February 1975, Merlyn Rees Papers, LSE CitationArchives, MR/5/6.
74. On page 144 of A Secret History of the IRA, Maloney suggests that the talks in Laneside were the primary channel of dialogue, when in fact the talks in Derry were (interviews with Officer X and CitationBritish official).
75. Handwritten notes on the talks, c.2005, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/87.
76. ‘Formal Meeting’, 2 April 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
77. ‘Formal Meeting’, 31 July 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
78. ‘Formal Meetings’, 16 September 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
79. CitationAndrew, The Defence of the Realm, 644.
80. Kerr, The Destructors, 312.
81. Leadership message to the British, 2 October 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
82. ‘Provisionals Invite Britain to Talk’, Irish Times, 20 October 1975.
83. ‘Notes of Meetings’, December 1975 to February 1976, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/84.
84. Taylor, Brits, 202.
85. Andrew, The Defence of the Realm, 646.
86. Interview with Jim Gibney, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/.
87. Interview with CitationMichael Culbert, Belfast, 10 August 2010.
88. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, 176.
89. CitationClarke, Border Crossing, 171.
90. CitationAnderson, Joe Cahill, 247.
91. Peck to FCO, 10 July 1972, State Papers, NRA, FCO 87/76.
92. CitationNeumann, Britain's Long War, 80.
93. Transcript of Rees Diary, 16 February 1975, Merlyn Rees Papers, LSE Archives, 1/6, p. 22.
94. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
95. Interview with British official.
96. See, for example, ‘Formal Meeting’, 2 April 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
97. CitationMaloney, A Secret History of the IRA, 166.
98. Andrew, The Defence of the Realm, 644.
99. Bew, Frampton, and Gurruchaga, Talking to Terrorists, 52.
100. Quoted in Taylor, Brits, 172.
101. Interview with British official.
102. Derek Brown, ‘The Provisionals – An Army with too Many Divisions’, The Guardian, 29 January 1975, found in State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/859.
103. Maloney, A Secret History of the IRA, 143.
104. Andrew, The Defence of the Realm, 644.
105. Interview with Officer X.
106. Interview with British official.
107. Interview with Officer X.
108. Transcript of Rees Diary, 26 October 1975, 1/9, p. 10 and 1/8, p. 21.
109. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
110. ‘Instructions’, 6 May 1975, JHLA, NUI Galway, POL 28/67.
111. Interview with Officer X.
112. Interview with British official.
113. Transcript of Rees Diary, 14 December 1974, 1/5, p. 22.
114. Taylor, Provos, 180.
115. Interview with Officer X.
116. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, 229.
117. Interview with British official.
118. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
119. Interview with Michael Culbert.
120. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
121. Interview with CitationJoe Haines.
122. Interview with Officer X.
123. Oatley, in CitationPowell, Talking to the Enemy, Episode 1, ‘First Contact’.
124. Kerr, The Destructors, 277.
125. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
126. ‘Our View in the Period 22 December to 16 January’, State Papers, NRA, CJ4/864.
127. Interview with CitationDanny Morrison, Belfast, 10 August 2010.
128. Interview with Brendan Duddy.
129. CitationMaloney, Voices from the Grave, 194, 198.
130. Taylor, Provos, 332.
131. Kerr, The Destructors, 284.
132. Brownie, ‘Active Abstentionism: A Political Prisoner in Long Kesh Looks at the Issue of Abstention and Asks: Should we be Prepared to Work Britain's Security System in Ireland?’, Republican News, 18 October 1975.
133. Maloney, Voices from the Grave, 198.
134. Maloney, Voices from the Grave, 206.
135. Quoted in Taylor, Provos, 186.
136. Interview with Officer X.
137. Quoted in Clarke and Johnston, Martin McGuinness, 91.
138. Taylor, Brits, 123.
139. CitationMallie and McKittrick, Endgame in Ireland, 72.
140. Sharrock and Devenport, Man of War, Man of Peace, 149.
141. CitationMcGuire, To Take Arms, 106.
142. ‘Ó Brádaigh Attacks Movement for Peace, Urges New Talks’, Irish Times, 20 October 1976, found in State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/1224.
143. Provisional Ceasefire Feelers, 7 January 1978, State Papers, NRA, CJ 4/1750.