Here are a few quotations for you. 'The Home Office dealt with Northern Ireland from 1922-72 and was a convinced and determined supporter of unionist governments and that unfortunate tradition later came to affect the way that department's administrative offspring, the NIO, addressed many of its tasks up to and including the botched legislative implementation of the Patten report.'
Another one: 'British secretaries of state often seemed to succumb to intense pressure from their own NIO staff to avoid any action that might upset unionists or security forces.'
Finally: 'Throughout the whole period (of the Troubles) Britain's Northern Ireland policy was dominated, or at any rate distorted in a most damaging way by the unwillingness of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to control some of the activities of the British army in Northern Ireland. Conservatives did not wish to interfere with the freedom of action of the army and Labour governments appeared afraid of the possible reactions if they did so.'
Observations from some recent republican analysis? Wrong. They're from an essay in last year's Reflections on the Irish State by Garret FitzGerald.
The Barron report's publication last week shows that FitzGerald's strictures on the rotten British administration of the north are still valid. Barron produced a report which is remarkable for a number of reasons.
For a start it took only three years compared to the mind-numbing duration of other tribunals chuntering on like Saville here and in the Republic, an endless list beginning with the Beef tribunal, then McCracken, Flood, Moriarty, Lindsay and so on, inquiries some of which, if they ever end, will have benefited only lawyers.
Barron's report is mainly remarkable, however, not for its speed or anything new in it but that it was produced at all. From the word go the NIO and the MoD obstructed Mr Justice Henry Barron.
Despite personal assurances from Prime Minister Tony Blair to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern a lack of cooperation persisted.
For ages the NIO just ignored requests from Barron for assistance. Although the NIO finally admitted that it could have perhaps as many as 68,000 files with references to Dublin-Monaghan, in other words yet another obstructive ploy, in the end John Reid signed a completely useless 16-page letter to Barron. Needless to say from the MoD there was zilch.
Barron points out that this resistance severely limited his inquiry. Stating the obvious perhaps, but vitally important to have it officially recorded. Important because it shows quite starkly that collusion is still an issue. Remember the caterwauling from here about extradition from the Republic?
Today (Wednesday) Mr Blair meets Mr Ahern in Downing Street mainly to think of a way to get a review of the workings of the Good Friday Agreement up and running because the Irish government's supposed to be a partner to the agreement. They will also talk about the Cory report which officials in the Irish government want to publish tomorrow. British officials do not want to publish it. They want changes in it, they want parts withheld and above all of course, they do not want the inquiries Cory recommends.
The British administration here has successfully avoided an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane for 14 years now. The Cory inquiry, agreed after Weston Park in August 2001, was another inquiry into whether there should be an inquiry, the umpteenth time waster. Sir John Stevens after three inquiries covering the same ground at last concluded in a report the British kept 99.9% secret, that there was widespread collusion between the north's security forces and loyalist paramilitaries.
The Irish government will accept Cory's report and hold an inquiry into the murders of RUC superintendents Breen and Buchanan. The British administration here wants to renege on Weston Park. It will use every means at its disposal to block any investigation into the activities of their security forces during the Troubles. What it can't block it will render useless by releasing, in open contempt for the public in whose name the inquiry is conducted, only the tiniest fraction of any inquiry they're compelled to hold.
Still, thanks to Barron at least we now have in the open the truth that the securocracy which run the north thinks collusion is a such a good idea that, not only does it want to keep 30-year-old details of it secret, it still wants to continue the practice. Sadly there's never been any British politician who has had the guts to stop it. So no change there then.
