Each week a bound volume of papers with a green cover is circulated by the Department of Foreign Affairs to ministers who deal with Northern Ireland and senior officials in several Government departments. Typically containing 50 to 100 pages, the volume is compiled in the Anglo-Irish division in the Department and aims to give its recipients a detailed background knowledge of even the smallest developments in relation to Northern Ireland.

It is inappropriately known as "The Box", its name coming from the times when important Government documents were stored in boxes. Since the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, irregular compilations of papers were being sent by the Department to politicians to keep them abreast of developments. It became a weekly institution about a decade ago.

"It is a source of information other than the media," according to one regular reader. "It stands to reason that a Government with our role in the Northern Ireland peace process would do this to ensure we understand the nature of the conflict."

The box is a concrete weekly manifestation of the sophisticated information-gathering now undertaken by the Government in relation to Northern Ireland.

There are countless routine examples of how this informationgathering proves valuable. This reporter travelled to former Yugoslavia last year to cover a visit by the then Tanaiste and minister for foreign affairs, Mr Spring. As he went into a meeting in Zagreb with the Croatian Foreign Minister, Mr Mate Granic, the news came through from Garvaghy Road that nationalist residents had been beaten off the street to allow the controversial Orange parade pass.

Officials in Mr Spring's party who were familiar with the Garvaghy Road knew which local residents' views to take seriously and, although several thousand miles away, could frame a suitable response to what happened based on an accurate reading of the situation.

The weekly green volume contains reports of meetings between officials and various contacts in the North. These meetings take place with political figures, community activists, key clergy, human rights campaigners and basically anyone considered to have a view of value to offer on a wide range of issues.

There is a heavy concentration on contacts in the nationalist community, although sources maintain that constant efforts are made to cultivate informal contacts with non-nationalists. The problem, they say, is a reluctance among unionists to engage with Departmental officials rather than the other way around.

"The Box" also contains reports from Irish Embassies abroad concerning aspects of Northern Ireland. Dispatches from Embassies in Washington and London would feature regularly, giving information on developments and thinking in the US and British capitals.

The Department of Foreign Affairs' information-gathering in relation to Northern Ireland is more intensive, more detailed and often more sensitive than similar activities carried out in Dublin by foreign embassies. In the North, there is less wining and dining, as sources may not want to be seen with Dublin officials in Belfast. These contacts generally take place in discreet locations.

Ms Dymphna Hayes, the author of what might now be called the McAleese Memos, was not engaged in particularly sensitive work when she wrote her reports. She is understood to have had particular responsibility for dealing with women's groups and prominent women in Northern Ireland society, and it was in this context that she spoke to Prof McAleese and Mrs Brid Rodgers.

"She was just a hardworking diplomat doing her job, part of which was to talk to people and pick up and pass on information she acquired" according to one departmental source.

"It's not public, so instead of quoting anonymous sources they are named in the documents," says the source.