Tensions between staff in the Attorney General's office and the Department of Justice secretary, Peter Berry, are revealed in documents from the late 1960s. Correspondence shows another aspect of the complex personality of Mr Berry, who was to become a major figure in the 1970 Arms Crisis.
The problem arose in March 1968 when Mr Eamonn Barnes from the Attorney General's office (he would later become Director of Public Prosecutions) telephoned Berry about a court case. In a memo to Kevin Mangan, a senior colleague, Mr Barnes described how he telephoned Berry for possible observations.
"After one minute or so, he intervened to say that he was already completely familiar with the facts of the case . . . It would be most undesirable for him to make any observations on the matter to me, as he did not know me or know who I was . . . that the case involved ministerial policy and that he would not discuss it with me. He repeated this with emphasis, referring again to the fact that he did not know who I was, and then put down his receiver."
A further memo was sent to the Attorney General by Mr Mangan, describing how he, in turn, called Berry, but did not get very far. "From the way in which Mr Berry changed from a normal tone of voice into a 'top gear' overbearing rant as soon as I disclosed the topic I wished to discuss, it was quite impossible to even get him to listen to the points I started to make. He brought the discussion to an abrupt, rude close in a manner I have never experienced from any other civil servant, high or low, in over 30 years, much less practised myself, and I feel that it is quite useless to attempt verbal or telephone communication or 'liaison' with Mr Berry or his Department if the staff here are to be treated in such fashion by anyone in that Department."
Accordingly, Mr Mangan had instructed both Mr Barnes and his colleague, Mr Quigley, not to have any further informal discussions with Department of Justice officers until further notice.
A restoration of cordial relations between Mr Mangan and Mr Berry is evident from a letter sent by the secretary from Mount Carmel Hospital, where he was a patient the following year. Berry wrote: "Dear Kevin: It is most kind of you to write to me. I do appreciate it. Lying here waiting while the doctors probe and pry can be very dull and at times I long for a good old-fashioned row with Comptrollers and Auditors General and senior legal advisers to the Attorney General and so on and so on. But on the next occasion I hope that on my side the arguments will be slightly better tempered."
