Second 'Belfast Agreement' appears

David Andrews intended the proceeds of his copy to go to charity. Now another has turned up for auction

Original historical documents, especially those signed by major public figures, are both collectible and valuable. But should they be sold?

The former minister for foreign affairs David Andrews has been widely criticised for planning to sell his copy of the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement). So what’s going on? The protracted talks that led to peace in Northern Ireland concluded on Friday, April 10th, 1998. The negotiations, chaired by US senator George Mitchell, were attended by representatives of Northern Ireland’s political parties and of the Irish and British governments.

This pivotal event in modern Irish history is, inevitably, of interest to collectors. The talks process generated a vast amount of paperwork. Whyte’s auctioneers had announced that its “History, Literature and Collectibles” sale today would feature “the original, official and final Good Friday Agreement proposal issued to those present at the talks”.

The presale estimate for the “document of extreme scarcity”, signed by Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, John Hume, Marjorie “Mo” Mowlam, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and many others, was €3,000-€5,000.

The Irish Times later reported that the vendor was David Andrews, the former Fianna Fáil minister for foreign affairs and a participant in the talks. He later withdrew the item, saying he regretted his “misjudgement”. It’s understood that Andrews had put plans in place, before he was revealed as the vendor, to donate the proceeds of the sale to two prominent charities. Andrews later became the subject of nasty commentary on social media over the sale of a State document. It should be clarified that the document was not the Belfast Agreement. The document he offered to Whyte’s was a copy of a memo circulated to participants in the talks on the final day. He had asked other participants to sign the cover sheet of the memo as a souvenir of the occasion. And he wasn’t alone. An unknown number of participants in the talks that fateful morning likewise asked each other to sign their copies. In the elated circumstances, many were keen to have a memento of the historic event.

And, already, another one has turned up for sale. So, while auctiongoers in Molesworth Street this afternoon will be told that Lot 271 in the catalogue has indeed been withdrawn, a new lot, No 271 A, is a last-minute addition to the sale. It is described as “a contemporaneous copy of the Good Friday Agreement proposal issued to those present at the talks for their consideration”. In fact, it is a copy of the same memo with many of the same signatures including those of the then British prime minister, Tony Blair, and the then taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. And the estimate? Well, the very same – €3,000-€5,000. The vendor of this copy, say Whyte’s, is an unnamed female “participant staff member” who was present on the final day of talks.

Collectors should know, therefore, that what is on offer is not the actual Belfast Agreement but an interesting document with a fascinating collection of autographs. Original? Yes; Unique? Obviously not. Other copies might surface.