Event Location
201 Philosophy Hall, UC Berkeley
Event Date
Drawing on a rich store of new evidence that has emerged in recent years Niall Ó Dochartaigh (University of Galway) examines how and why secret back-channels that linked the British and Irish governments to both the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries were first established and how they operated. This lecture explores the effects of back-channel contact on intra party struggles on all sides and discusses the importance of back-channels in drawing the positions of opposing parties closer at crucial moments. It considers too the prominence of former colonial officials in Britain's 'covert diplomacy' in Northern Ireland.