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 1995. Here are some things we learned from the State Papers.
1. Don’t release records on King Edward VIII’s abdication, British government urged Ireland
British officials were very concerned about papers Ireland might possess from the lead-up to Edward VIII’s abdication. Fearing what might come out in declassified documents in 1966, 30 years on from events, they asked Dublin not to release one conversation in particular in which Éamon de Valera was briefed on what was likely to happen. In the event, the record had already been lost.
2. Gerry Kelly named as ‘dominant figure’ of 1996 IRA leadership in Garda security document
Gardaí observed some discontent within republican ranks in 1996 over the Provisional IRA’s strategy, with a newly released document revealing the individuals the force thought held most sway in the leadership at the time. Gerry Kelly, who was among them, also gained some praise from officials for his peacekeeping efforts on the streets after the Good Friday Agreement.
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3. Cheaper to send cervical smear samples to England than train staff, officials said
Problems with cervical smear samples were already on the minds of government officials in the 1980s, decades before Vicky Phelan and the Cervical Check scandal came to public attention. An official and a junior minister discussed delays in testing – and noted that it might be cheaper to send the samples to England than to train technicians.
4. Christy Moore complained about questioning at Holyhead under terror laws in 2004
In the wake of the September 11th, 2001, attacks, checks got much stricter at UK ports and airports, leading to consternation among the Irish community at the time. Singer Christy Moore issued a complaint about his treatment when he and his driver were detained and interviewed in Holyhead in 2004.
5. Dublin Zoo ‘distressed’ as panda’s death on return to China linked in report to Irish stay
In 1986, one of the social occasions on the calendar for any curious Dubliner was a visit to the two pandas briefly at Dublin Zoo on loan from China. Keepers were concerned, however, when one of the pandas died after returning home, with the implication that their trip to Ireland could have contributed. They sought more information from Irish diplomats.
6. Concern over UK media coverage after vandalism at Limerick Jewish cemetery
A 1995 attack on a Jewish cemetery in Limerick, during which a Swastika was drawn amid other damage, drew widespread condemnation. The incident, documents reveal, drew interest in the UK, with media queries sent to embassy press officers seeking information on further developments. Limerick City Council took the cemetery under its control, it was confirmed.
7. Northern nationalists increasingly ‘anti-British’ rather than ‘anti-unionist’ by 1980s
Northern nationalists had become increasingly anti-British by the early 1980s, complicating any UK state efforts to tackle the violence there, then-taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was told by a senior official.
While prior generations were anti-unionist, remembering discrimination in housing, votes and jobs, the younger generation had faced direct rule and British security interventions. Under Thatcher, there was no “escape valve” of appealing directly to London.
8. Boyzone fans falling ill due to ‘heat and hysteria’ prompted call for concert law change
Twelve people were taken to hospital due to “heat and hysteria” at a Boyzone gig in Tallaght in 1995, prompting the attorney general to warn the government that concert legislation needed to be urgently updated.
The National Basketball Arena concert on July 31st came as the band, led by Ronan Keating, had reached international stardom. In the event, some concertgoers fainted and were carried outside and given medical treatment by ambulance crews. Problems were encountered bringing stricken fans to hospital.
9. Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick a serious issue 45 years ago
Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick remains a serious issue today. It also featured in the State Papers, with documents from as long ago as 1980 highlighting the issue. Many of the issues discussed, including a need for more capacity and for step-down care for elderly people who cannot be discharged, are also familiar.
10. Haughey not happy with quality of Pearse and Wolfe Tone portraits in Government Buildings
Of all the taoisigh, Charles Haughey is the one most closely associated with a taste in the finer things. Having secured power, the State Papers reveal that he was not satisfied with the quality of portraits of Pearse and Wolfe Tone in Government Buildings and sought to have them redone. A rug also provoked his ire.
11. Charles plan for ‘opulent’ yacht visit to Galway Bay and Cork in 1996 annoyed Irish side
Prince Charles visited Ireland in 1995 in a politically significant trip - and wanted to come back the next year in the Royal Yacht Britannia. This plan met with some scepticism from then-taoiseach John Bruton and his officials. Bruton wondered whether the future king might not simply fly into a regional airport instead.
12. Not enough gardaí at Lansdowne Road to prevent riot at abandoned Ireland-England 1995 match
What caused 1995’s Lansdowne Road riot, when hooliganism from English fans caused a friendly against the Republic of Ireland to be abandoned? New papers give an insight: there weren’t enough gardaí on the night to stop the trouble once it started, and information on the hooligans - many of whom had links to the organised far right - was insufficiently shared among those who needed it, we report.
13. Bertie Ahern lobbied Tony Blair for more information on Sellafield security amid concerns
In London, documents reveal how concerned then taoiseach Bertie Ahern was about the prospect of damage to Sellafield causing nuclear fallout across the Irish Sea. The cause was very high profile in its day, and in 2003 and 2004, UK officials recorded Ahern’s calls for security measures to be shared.
They believed, however, that despite “robust” measures, they would not be able to guarantee that Ireland would not be affected should the worst happen, and therefore a briefing would not reassure him.
14. WT Cosgrave wrote of ‘highest esteem’ for Mussolini as he tried to save Franciscan garden
Ireland’s first taoiseach, WT Cosgrave, wrote to Benito Mussolini in 1931, attempting to preserve the gardens of an Irish-linked Franciscan college from the Italian fascist dictator’s renovation of Rome. Assuring him of the “highest esteem and respect and my earnest good wishes for ever closer relations between our two countries”, he asked for plans to be changed.
15. British army morale at ‘low ebb’ in Crossmaglen months before ceasefire
Months before the 1994 IRA ceasefire, morale at Crossmaglen was at a low, documents reveal. The barracks overlooking the GAA pitch in the south Armagh town was facing fire from sophisticated mortars, while travel outside was largely only possible by helicopter. Security works at the barracks led to concern in the town, which Irish and British officials discussed.
16. Slow progress a feature of North’s early powersharing that endures to this day
Many papers released in Belfast, focused on 2005, reveal the struggles of officials there to deal with the new powersharing reality, with concerns over capacity - and questions about the role of various former paramilitaries in political and civil society.
In one curious set of documents, a government department sought legal advice after a post office received a thank you Christmas card from Sinn Féin. Higher-ups left it up - but staff took it down, citing anti-sectarian rules.
17. Venal, unscrupulous, ambitious gambler: Irish papers scathing of Winston Churchill
In older papers, the view of Irish officials on rising star Winston Churchill are made clear - and they were not positive. Describing him as “venal and unscrupulous”, the Irish note charged that Churchill came from a family “whose house was founded by a man who betrayed his first patron, James, duke of York, and who allowed his wife to pander to an erotic queen”.
It also criticised his “overweening ambition” and felt he had tried to use the abdication crisis to advance himself. The briefing note was seen by Éamon de Valera - who later dealt with Churchill when he did reach 10 Downing Street.
1995 overview
This week, the National Archives in Dublin, Belfast and London will release thousands of documents held in their files to be reviewed by the public for the first time. A selection of those documents has been picked out by reporters for The Irish Times in the three cities as particularly interesting, whether for giving new insight to the politics of the day, revealing something about behind-the-scenes relations between states, or simply prompting curiosity.
Many of the papers released by the Dublin archives relate to 1995, as files reach the 30-year cut-off for being made public.
The Catholic Church was trying to move past its 1994 “annus horribilis”, The Irish Times review of the year in its final edition of 1995 noted, while Labour education minister Niamh Bhreathnach abolished tuition fees for university education, and Gerry Adams reminded us that the IRA “haven’t gone away, you know”.
The heatwave of 1995 lives long in memory, as the warmest, hottest and driest weather in a century took hold across the summer months.
Seán Dublin Bay Rockall D Loftus, Dublin’s most colourfully named lord mayor, took office in June, and in November dedicated an unassuming park in south Dublin to Chaim Herzog, former president of Israel – a story that returned to prominence in 2025.
RTÉ Radio 1 was set to finally move to a 24-hour schedule, but the collapse of The Irish Press was the main media story in the review of the year. More than 600 jobs were lost. Meanwhile, The Irish Times “consolidated its electronic version on the World Wide Web” – where it remains to this day.
Beyond 1995, many other documents, older and newer, have also been released, and coverage will span subjects from the Irish State’s interaction with the power brokers of pre-second World War Europe to the much more modern likes of boy bands and travelling football fans.
In Belfast and London, a 20-year rule is in operation, and the Irish State has released files related to Anglo-Irish relations from the period up to 2005 too. As a result, reporting will cover both a time when long-lasting ceasefires remained a hope rather than a reality, and a time in the mid-2000s when the peace process had advanced and focus fell more on legacy issues, as well as the challenge of building a functioning state under the North’s new dispensation.
It is the time of Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair, with George W Bush’s war on terror under way and Ireland yet to face the financial crash that was to come.
The State Papers coverage, touching on everything from paramilitaries to pandas, will run until Tuesday, online and in print.
