Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: Valuing the Union?

Abstract

In this article, it is argued that Peter Hain is the most partisan Secretary of State for Northern Ireland appointed since the post was established in 1972. Peter Hain’s attitude towards Northern Ireland has echoed that of Sinn Fein’s republicanism. He has been active on Irish issues since 1972 and since at least the mid‐1970s up until the mid‐1990s he was a consistent supporter and campaigner for ‘British’ withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Peter Hain’s republican sympathies have placed him outside the mainstream of British Labour party thinking, which has traditionally been sympathetic towards Irish nationalism. This casts doubt on his claim that he values the Union. The 14 Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland appointed prior to Hain had little track record on Irish issues, and this perception of ‘neutrality’ enabled them to play more of a mediating role between the contending parties. Peter Hain’s appointment is, therefore, a departure from precedent. This article concludes by considering three different explanations as to why he was appointed. First, was his appointment part of the choreography of the peace process, in which Sinn Fein got a republican Secretary of State in return for the IRA standing down? Second, was Hain’s appointment a deliberate, symbolic and tactical move by Tony Blair to put pressure on the Democratic Unionist Party to negotiate seriously a new, devolved assembly or face direct rule with an increasingly green tinge? Third, was the Prime Minister largely unaware of Hain’s republican record when he appointed him to the post of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland? Therefore, was the appointment a blunder that could destabilise the search for a devolved, power‐sharing settlement?

Acknowledgement

The author would like to acknowledge the BBC team that produced The Politics Show programme on Peter Hain, Suji Barnett, Gillian Hargreaves, James Stephenson and Jeremy Vine. The author is particularly grateful for the advice of Kate Dixon, the producer of the film. The staff at the Linen Hall Library in Belfast were very helpful in tracking down some of the sources contained in this article. This article was based largely on sources stored by Joyce Dixon and the author thanks her for her continuing patience. Thanks to two anonymous reviewers of Irish Political Studies for providing very stimulating feedback. Eamonn O’Kane made some very insightful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. In this article, the term ‘British’ is used as a short‐hand to refer to those living in Great Britain. This does not imply that people living in Northern Ireland who regard themselves as British are not British.

2. Thanks to Eamonn O’Kane for drawing my attention to this point.