Queen 'understood' aspirations of Irish people

Queen Elizabeth told the British prime minister, James Callaghan, in 1977 that she understood the aspirations of the Irish people and did not regard a visit to Northern Ireland as complete if it was limited only to contacts with the majority unionist population.

The views expressed by the queen are recorded in a confidential note detailing a lengthy conversation between Callaghan and the then taoiseach, Jack Lynch, which took place in Downing Street on September 28th, 1977. The note of the meeting between the two leaders is one of the documents in a file released by the National Archives under the 30-year rule.

The queen made a silver jubilee visit to Northern Ireland on August 9th and 10th, 1977, despite threats from the Provisional IRA. During the visit, the IRA planted bombs near the University of Ulster at Coleraine, but the royal programme was unaffected.

The SDLP leader, Gerry Fitt, expressed opposition to the timing of the visit, the first to the region in 11 years, and refused to meet the queen.

Mr Callaghan told Mr Lynch that the queen had been "a little hurt" by Gerry Fitt's action. The prime minister went on to say that "she understood the aspirations of the Irish people and did not regard the visit as complete if it were limited only to contacts with the majority.

"He would like particular attention to be paid to this point," recorded the note.

Callaghan also told the taoiseach that when he had seen the date for the visit he went to the palace to object.

"It was, he said, madness, for the visit to take place at that time. But at the palace they said that they could not alter it. He had sent the proposal back twice but found that, in the end, because of the queen's other engagements, there just was no way in which the date could be changed."

The meeting between the taoiseach and the prime minister took place three months after the general election in which Lynch swept to power with one of the biggest majorities in the history of the State.

The two men were in broad agreement that progress in the North would only happen if the politicians representing the two communities could agree on a framework for a solution.

Mr Lynch expressed the concern of the Irish government at the appearance of a movement towards greater integration of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

He said this had come about through the pact or understanding with the unionists in the House of Commons.

"All this was happening at a time when there was nothing to give support to the idea of devolution. He would strongly urge that there should be some initiative, on the political level, to indicate another direction in British policy."

Mr Lynch added that during the tenure of Merlyn Rees as Northern secretary, there had been a definite drift away from the concept of powersharing.

"It was essential that the British government should continue to support this concept. The only possibility for stable government in the North was that all elements, majority and minority, should be represented," the note recorded.

Mr Callaghan responded to these points by saying that as far as British internal politics was concerned, he found it useful to "play along" with all the minority groupings in parliament.

"There was no pact with the unionists in this situation. In fact they had now become a disorganised party."

The prime minister said he was particularly conscious of the position of the SDLP.

"The taoiseach could rest assured that there was no question whatsoever of the integration of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. This was something that would be completely unacceptable to the British people."

Mr Callaghan referred to the difficulties in the way of an initiative and said it was important to recognise that the unionists would not be dragooned. "They had to be wooed," he added.

The prime minister accepted that any scheme of devolution would have to be acceptable to both sides of the community and he handed Mr Lynch a draft section for their joint communique.

He also said he was fully agreeable to a move towards co-operation on cross-Border projects and would be willing to look at it through a group of senior officials.

However, Mr Callaghan resisted an effort by the taoiseach to persuade him to recognise the national aspirations of the Irish people in the communique, saying it would have to be considered very carefully indeed and that a reference might well be counter-productive.

Mr Lynch stressed the need for politicians in Northern Ireland to be given the chance to come together and he told Mr Callaghan of his fear that John Hume might find life in Brussels so attractive that he might leave Northern Ireland completely.

He also said that Austin Currie was becoming more and more disenchanted with politics and his financial position was "by no means the best".