Thousands of declassified documents have been released in the last week from the archives of Dublin, Belfast and London, bringing new insight into Irish events, politics and personalities of times past.
Dublin’s archival material focuses mostly on documents which have turned 30 years old this year, centring on 1994. Here are 15 things we learned from the State Papers.
1. Bertie Ahern overruled objections to continue weapons purchases from Israel in 1990s
Ireland continued to purchase ammunition from Israel despite “strong reservations” from then minister for foreign affairs David Andrews. The then minister for finance Bertie Ahern overruled Mr Andrews, who argued that Ireland should not continue to buy weapons from a country that had been involved in many incidents in Lebanon where Irish peacekeeping troops were targeted.
2. Mary Robinson was blocked by government from taking up UN role in 1993
Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs Dick Spring warned the then president, Mary Robinson, that taking up a UN position would “fly in the face” of what the public understood her role to be. In 1993, Mrs Robinson was invited to co-chair a high-level international group set to report on the role of the United Nations to mark its 50th anniversary in 1995 and to recommend a way forward for the organisation.
State Papers: What we learned, from details of Boris Yeltsin’s Shannon no-show to Ireland’s lost moon rock
What do the 1994 State Papers reveal?
Bob Geldof warned Tony Blair that failing to support Africans at home would mean upheaval in West
Irish anti-Semitism claims ‘false, irresponsible and mischievous’, said Jewish community in 1944
3. Russian ambassador ‘exquisitely embarrassed’ by Yeltsin’s no-show at Shannon Airport
Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s infamous no-show at Shannon Airport was a big news story in 1994 and newly released archive files shed much new light on the background to the incident. Taoiseach Albert Reynolds had cut short his visit to Australia to be present on the tarmac when the presidential plane carrying Mr Yeltsin was scheduled to arrive on September 30th from a conference in Seattle. Mr Yeltsin’s plane circled Shannon Airport for an hour before touching down, but Mr Yeltsin never got off the plane and Mr Reynolds’s offer to go to speak to him on board was refused.
4. Ireland’s priceless moon rock from Apollo landing was destroyed in a fire
Ireland lost a priceless piece of moon rock from the first moon landing in August 1969.
After a period on display at Áras an Uachtaráin, it was given to the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies for display at the Dunsink Observatory in Dublin where it sat largely in a basement before being destroyed in a 1977 fire.
5. Irish America appalled by de Valera’s visit to German minister after Hitler’s death
Nothing Éamon de Valera did in his long career attracted the same international opprobrium as his visit to the German minister in Ireland, Dr Eduard Hempel, to express condolences following Adolf Hitler’s death.
Many were aghast as the news filtered through of de Valera’s actions, according to newly released files from Ireland’s Washington legation covering the war years.
6. Stakeknife allegations ‘traumatised’ Sinn Féin, Ahern and Blair believed
The revelations in 2003 that the head of the IRA’s internal security unit, Freddie Scappaticci, was a British spy, “traumatised” republicans, then-taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair believed.
7. Papers handed to Irish ambassador cast doubt on whether Yeats’s remains were correctly identified
Papers given to the Irish ambassador in London purported to prove that the remains of WB Yeats that had been returned from France by the Irish government could not, in fact, be identified as the poet’s.
8. Nazi film Triumph of the Will shown in Dublin’s Olympia - and removed overnight due to threats
Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl’s notorious film Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) was already controversial when it was released in 1935.
A showing of it at the Olympia Theatre in Dame Street became so controversial that the theatre owners were warned not to keep the film there overnight.
9. Irish officials requested that inward investment be kept out of North-South co-operation
During critical negotiations weeks before the Belfast Agreement was endorsed in April 1998, the Department of Foreign Affairs requested that inward investment be removed from a list of potential areas for North-South co-operation, declassified papers have revealed.
10. Narrow Water Bridge: £500,000 proposal was turned down in 1970s before rocketing to €100m
The cost of the Narrow Water Bridge sky-rocketed from an estimated £500,000 to €100 million after officials turned down a proposal to fund it as early as the 1970s, the Northern Ireland State archives have revealed.
11. Jack Lynch puzzled by request to repatriate James Joyce’s remains
James Joyce’s only son Giorgio wanted to repatriate his father’s remains to Ireland, but then taoiseach Jack Lynch was highly sceptical of the proposal. Giorgio Joyce expressed a preference for his father to be buried in Ireland during a conversation with the writer and biographer Ulick O’Connor in 1968.
12. Young John F Kennedy ‘belittled’ Irish unification in meeting with diplomats
A young John F Kennedy was “apathetic” to partition and was “inclined to belittle the cause” of Irish unification. The early-career politician, recently returned from service in the second World War, told an Irish diplomat he could see “no reason for the United States taking a particular interest” in partition.
13. Bob Geldof warned Tony Blair that failing to support Africans at home would mean upheaval in West
Bob Geldof warned the former British prime minister Tony Blair that failing to help Africans to make a living in their home countries would result in immigration and “massive social upheaval” in the West, according to newly released documents.
14. Swimming pool problems for Ireland’s Vatican ambassador sparked sharp criticism
The swimming pool attached to Ireland’s Embassy to the Vatican almost caused a diplomatic incident. The 17th-century mansion on Gianicolo Hill overlooking Rome had a swimming pool attached for those long hot Italian summer days. The Department of Foreign Affairs approved work on the swimming pool in November 1992 but there were difficulties from the start.
15. Attempts to build Irish arms industry failed due to concerns over neutrality and misuse
Attempts to set up a large-scale arms industry in Ireland foundered as a result of opposition from successive governments in the 1980s and early 1990s. A number of foreign companies, which approached the government with a view to setting up in Ireland, were rebuffed.
1994 overview
The Dublin material focuses on 1994. In a contemporary review of events, The Irish Times then described it as “a pivotal year for politicians, the Catholic Church and Anglo-Irish affairs”, highlighting themes that remain central in newly released material.
The year began with Fianna Fáil under Albert Reynolds in office with the Labour Party and Fine Gael’s John Bruton under pressure from an internal putsch. By its end, Mr Bruton was taoiseach, in a rainbow coalition with Labour and Democratic Left.
For the church, it was the “year of the paedophile priest”, then-religious affairs correspondent Andy Pollak wrote. Fr Brendan Smyth was jailed after pleading guilty to 17 charges of indecent assault involving the sexual abuse of five girls and three boys. The hierarchy was in turmoil.
In Northern Ireland, as well as Dublin, London and an increasingly interested Washington DC, it was the year of the ceasefire. Negotiations and false starts marked 1994, and the new papers provide further insights on the efforts behind the scenes to progress towards the moment on August 31st, 1994, when the IRA agreed to lay down arms as part of the peace process.
Meanwhile, Ireland took revenge on Italy at the USA World Cup, Riverdance debuted during the Eurovision interval as Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids secured a record three-in-a-row for the country, and transition year was rolled out to mainstream schools.
Around the world, the mercurial figure of Boris Yeltsin captured international attention as Russia’s transition from communism took shape. Elsewhere, slaughter in the Balkans and Rwanda made for grim reading, but South Africa’s first free election provided an optimistic note, installing former freedom fighter Nelson Mandela as president.
In Belfast and London, the documents released are under the UK’s 20-year rule, relating to 2004, and Dublin’s archivists have chosen to release some files related to Anglo-Irish relations for the period from 1995 to 2004 that deal with similar events.
And as ever, there are other stories, of curiosity and importance both: the young JFK’s views on partition, the young Binyamin Netanyahu’s lobbying efforts and the fate of a rock from the moon, among others.
Coverage runs until New Year’s Eve, in print and online.
Ireland 1994: what declassified documents reveal about the Troubles, a Russian snub and Jack's Army
State Papers articles
Dublin:
- Bertie Ahern overruled objections to continue weapons purchases from Israel in 1990s
- Mary Robinson was blocked by Government from taking up UN role in 1993
- Russian ambassador ‘exquisitely embarrassed’ by Yeltsin’s no-show at Shannon Airport
- Jack Lynch puzzled by request to repatriate James Joyce’s remains
- Plans to name IRA Army Council ‘daft’, agreed Irish and British officials
- Dublin blindsided on Chris Patten’s appointment as head of NI policing commission, State records show
- Loyalist paramilitaries’ increased professionalisation in early 1990s concerned Dublin, State papers reveal
- More should have been done to protect assassinated lawyer Rosemary Nelson, British officials later accepted
- Family of Irishman assassinated on Bloody Sunday by Collins ‘Squad’ compensated by British
- Irish government feared retaliation over decision not to prosecute Dessie O’Hare
- Senior British general ‘furious’ about new Bloody Sunday Inquiry he saw as ‘cynical political move’
- How John Bruton, the last Redmondite, got to grips with the IRA, the UK and the peace process
- Notorious apartheid police chief ‘Prime Evil’ was refused entry to Ireland over fears he would settle
- British under fire over claim Henry VIII cannons smuggled from Irish waters into Tower of London
- Senior Northern Ireland judge disliked Jews just as much as he did Catholics, officials told
- No, Sir: Government refused Oliver J Flanagan’s request to use title after papal honour
- ‘Show some respect’, Brian Cowen told Gerry Adams in furious Belfast meeting, records show
- Nazi film Triumph of the Will shown in Dublin’s Olympia in 1935 - and removed overnight due to threats
- David Trimble blocked Tourism Ireland campaign in Britain, records show
- Papers handed to Irish ambassador cast doubt on whether Yeats’s remains were correctly identified
- US ambassador said Ireland was a den of German and Axis spies during second World War
- Young John F Kennedy ‘belittled’ Irish unification in meeting with diplomats
- Ireland’s priceless moon rock from Apollo landing was destroyed in a fire
- US considered abandoning airport pre-clearance after ‘Shannon stopover’ ended
- Swimming pool problems for Ireland’s Vatican ambassador spark sharp criticism
- Assembly elections postponement ‘the biggest single setback in years’, Sinn Féin warned
- Roger Casement told own defence team ‘black diaries’ were a forgery
- Northern Ireland’s construction industry was ‘rotten’ with paramilitary links, officials told
- Joint British/Irish courts in Northern Ireland were backed by top Conservatives
- John Bruton believed nationalists were not properly represented by Sinn Féin or SDLP
- Albert Reynolds clashed with banks over call for more small business funding
- Irish anti-Semitism claims ‘false, irresponsible and mischievous’, said Jewish community in 1944
Belfast
- How Sinn Féin came in from the cold: British state’s changing attitude to republicans tracked over time
- Fears new UK citizenship ceremonies with flags could damage NI community relations
- Trimble and Mallon feared DUP ministers would not honour Executive confidentiality
- Sinn Féin accused of ‘simplistic’ claim that inequality the cause of North’s community difficulties
- Irish officials requested that inward investment be kept out of North-South co-operation
- Narrow Water Bridge: £500,000 proposal was turned down in 1970s before rocketing to €100m
- Peace process prisoner releases prompted warning that not all would become ‘good guys’, State papers show
- Schoolchildren at Holy Cross and Shankill traumatised by harassment and feuds in early 2000s
