Today and tomorrow The Irish Times examines the Dublin, London and Belfast Cabinet Papers for 1974.
They are traditionally kept secret for 30 years, and as our specialist team of historians and journalists shows, the 1974 papers yield fascinating insights into the way politicians and civil servants dealt with the challenges of the time.
Current events are tripping on the coat-tails of history as we read of the failure of the first power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive, and recall Mr Séamus Mallon's description of the Belfast Agreement as "Sunningdale for slow learners", almost a quarter of a century and thousands of deaths later.
It was a bleak time, a year which opened with hope and ended in failure. The power-sharing agreement reached in Sunningdale yielded a cross-community executive which was soon brought down by the Ulster Workers Council strike.
A new Fine Gael-Labour government was torn between trying to support power-sharing in the North and continuing domestic pressure not to drop the national aspiration for unity.
Rising energy costs and a stagnant economy were crippling problems. Legislation for contraception collapsed, with the Taoiseach voting against his own Government's first tentative step to permit married couples to obtain contraceptives.
Some papers have been withheld and others, notably those from the office of the chief minister at Stormont, are missing. We also have access this year to some files held over from previous years. And tomorrow, reporting on papers released for the first time under Britain's new freedom of information legislation, we have important new information on Britain's plans to deal with hunger strikes.
Contributors
Eamon Phoenix: Dr Eamon Phoenix is the author of Northern Nationalism, a study of the nationalist minority in Northern Ireland. He is a broadcaster and a lecturer in history at Stranmillis College, Belfast. This is his 20th year of reviewing the release of Cabinet papers under the 30-year rule for The Irish Times.
Jonathan Bardon: Dr Jonathan Bardon OBE is the author of A History of Ulster. He lectures in history at Queen's University, Belfast.
John Bowman: Dr John Bowman is an historian and broadcaster. He is author of De Valera and the Ulster Question; 1917-1973. (Oxford University Press)
Deaglán de Bréadún: Deaglán de Bréadún is an Irish Times journalist and author of The Far Side of Revenge - Making Peace in Northern Ireland
Richard Bourke: Dr Richard Bourke lectures in history at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas. (Random House, Pimlico 2003).
Alison Healy: Alison Healy is an Irish Times journalist.
Coverage of the State papers in The Irish Times is edited by Kieran Fagan
Public access
The Dublin papers may be inspected at the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. www.nationalarchive.ie
The British papers may be inspected at the National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, England. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The Belfast papers may be inspected at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland.