Negotiating the Provisional IRA ceasefire

This chapter looks at the changes made by the Labour government to security policy and the establishment of talks with senior Provisional IRA representatives, both designed in order to secure the ceasefire. It also considers the expectations of Labour ministers and senior NIO officials going into the ceasefire. The ceasefire had great implications for security policy and the political scene. It provided the backdrop to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, which lasted from May 1975 through to March 1976, and deeply affected the Labour government’s relationships with political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the government of the Republic of Ireland and with senior British army officers.