Brief Biography:

A lawyer by profession before he entered politics, Patrick Mayhew was elected as a Conservative MP in 1974 for the constituency of Tunbridge Wells (1974-97). With his legal background his first ministerial experiences came as Solicitor-General (1983-87) and as Attorney-General (1987-92). In this latter role he had angered nationalist and republican opinion in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish government through a series decisions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. When in April 1992 he was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1992-97) there was therefore some initial suspicion of him. In spite of this Mayhew pressed ahead with efforts to re-start the all-party talks initiated by his predecessor Peter Brooke and with the support of the Irish government these began again in late April 1992. Although these were to later break up in November 1992 without any agreement as to how the political stalemate could be ended he was keen to stress that a basis had been laid for future progress.

In order to try to inject new impetus into the by now stalled process, Mayhew was to make a number of suggestions in December 1992. Although restating British government policy concerning Northern Ireland's constitutional position he also went onto elaborate the possibility of involving the republican movement in future dialogue in the wake of the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) campaign having permanently ended. No immediate breakthrough resulted but his message was later considered to be significant in the context of the emergence of the 'Peace Process' in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s. With regards to his response to the talks that had taken place between John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), he refused to join in the outright condemnation of Hume. Instead Mayhew praised his courage but repeated that Britain would refuse to talk to SF whilst violence continued. Such views were however to cause him some embarrassment when it emerged in November 1993 that his government had already been involved in secret contacts with the republican movement.

After considering whether to resign from his position, he chose to remain after receiving the full backing of the Prime Minister, John Major. Mayhew was therefore still in office when the British and Irish governments released the Downing Street Declaration (DSD) in December 1993. In the period after the DSD he was cautious about the prospect of a political breakthrough but remained optimistic that progress could eventually be made. A similar response followed in the wake of the announcement by the IRA of its ceasefire in August 1994. Whilst welcoming the opportunity to reduce security activity Mayhew also made it clear that the British government expected some moves towards IRA decommissioning before it would engage with republicans in any meaningful discussions. In turn this demand was rejected and he was therefore involved in efforts along with the Irish authorities to try to find an answer to this problem.

In October 1995 it was agreed to try to adopt a 'twin-track' approach whereby political negotiations would commence whilst an international body would oversee the decommissioning process. But this failed to produce a breakthrough and with relations between the republican movement and the two governments continuing to deteriorate the resultant stalemate only ending with the breakdown of the IRA ceasefire in February 1996. In spite of this setback Mayhew was involved with the efforts of the British and Irish governments to find a solution to the problem. Thus all-party talks without representatives of SF were eventually scheduled to begin in June 1996. Prior to the 1997 general election he made it announced he would not be standing again as an MP and in July 1997 was made a life peer. Later in the year he took his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Mayhew of Twysden.

Book References:

De Breadun, Deaglan. (2001), The Far Side of Revenge. Dublin: The Collins Press.
Elliott, Sydney. and Flackes, W.D. (1999), Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1999. Belfast: Blackstaff Press.
Hennessey, Thomas. (2000), The Northern Ireland Peace Process: Ending the Troubles. London: Gill & Macmillan.

Web Sources:

[Entry written by B.Lynn 5 December 2002]