Letter to John Cushnahan

You requested a meeting with me urgently and I gladly agreed. At our meeting today you asked me for a clear assurance that the Inter-Governmental Conference to be established under the Anglo-Irish Agreement would have no executive authority, and that there was no intention to give it such authority in future. I gladly give you an unqualified assurance on this point.

You also raised your misgivings about the absence of any mechanism for the traditional majority in Northern Ireland to make its views known on the matters within the scope of the Inter-Governmental Conference, and the lack of clear arrangements for keeping them informed about the Conference's discussions. As I told you, the Government is giving these questions serious consideration and I hope to be able to be in a position to make some practical suggestions soon.

With best wishes,