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15 December 1993. The Downing Street Declaration issued by John Major and Albert Reynolds says "the achievement of peace must involve a permanent end to the use of and support for paramilitary violence" and "in these circumstances, democratically mandated parties which establish a commitment to exclusively peaceful means and which have shown that they abide by the democratic process, are free to participate fully in democratic politics and to join in dialogue in due course between the Governments and the political parties on the way ahead". Dick Spring says these conditions include at least some decommissioning. Sir Patrick Mayhew expresses a similar view.
1 June 1994. Spring repeats his position.
31 August 1994. The Provisional IRA announces "a complete cessation of military operations". Reynolds and northern nationalists take this as implying a permanent ceasefire. The British Government and unionists press for a more explicit statement of permanence. The IRA statement does not mention violence and the IRA continues to carry out punishment beatings and expulsions from Northern Ireland.
12 October 1994. The Combined Loyalist Military Command declares a ceasefire whose permanence would be dependent on "the continued cessation of all nationalist/republican violence". Loyalist beatings and expulsions continue.
12 December 1994. Reynolds says it is not a "sensible precondition" to require the IRA to hand in weapons before multilateral talks begin.
30 December 1994. Major repeats that there must be "significant progress" on the question of arms before the Government and other parties would join Sinn Féin in round-table talks.
22 January 1995. Spring says that decommissioning should not be allowed to become an obstacle to talks on the future of the North and that steady progress is being made towards the inclusion of Sinn Féin in negotiations.
January 1995. The Ulster Unionist Party presents a plan to Major for an internation
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