John Major reprimanded John Bruton for ‘stormy’ speech in 1995

John Major wrote to John Bruton to reprimand him for a speech in London that would cause “a storm” in 1995 while he was “up to my eyeballs” in New Zealand.

The Taoiseach made an address at a dinner in the English capital on Armistice Day, where he said that he and Mr Major had “worked closely together in advancing the peace process”.

He said “at this critical juncture” there was a need for “reasonable compromise” towards all-party talks and called for the “dignity” of the nationalist community to be respected.

“Unionists need to understand that failure by them to accept that police powers were misused during Stormont rule, reduces the effectiveness of the RUC in nationalist areas right up to the present time,” he told the Meath Association of London dinner at the Copthorne Tara Hotel.

“It is something that the unionist representatives can help overcome, by coming to terms with the negative aspects of some of their predecessors’ past dealings with their nationalist neighbours – especially in the area of policing.”

Mr Major was at Auckland airport about to board a plane for London as he wrote to Mr Bruton the next day.

“I have to say that I am very surprised at it (the speech), and I regret that you have spoken in this way,” the British Prime Minister said.

He said that unionists were “bound” to take from it that the Irish government is “strongly aligned against them” and cannot be a broker with the British government.

“(Northern Ireland Secretary) Paddy Mayhew has had to set the record straight. You left him with no option.

“However, we shall do whatever we can to calm down the storm your speech will inevitably raise.”

He referred to a meeting held in Israel, with US President Bill Clinton, while the leaders attended the funeral of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

He said he had received two letters from Mr Bruton, and had hoped to discuss the first with him after returning from New Zealand, but was “sorry to see that elements of your letter leaked into the Irish press soon after you sent it”.

He said he had been busy dealing with various international matters and said it was not easy “to have my finger on the pulse of Northern Ireland”.

“I have been up to my eyeballs in a very difficult situation here, dealing first with some acute anxieties about French nuclear testing in the Pacific and then with the Nigerian crisis.”

He said that he knew Mr Bruton was “under great pressure at home”.

Referencing the US president’s planned visit to the island of Ireland at the end of December, he said: “We must not allow (Gerry) Adams’ conscious efforts to step up pressure ahead of Bill Clinton’s visit to panic us or throw us off course.

“You have shown the ability, more than any other Taoiseach, to recognise that there are two sides to the Northern Ireland problem, and that we will only resolve it if we take account of both of them.”

He asked for the two sides to speak over the phone over the next few days.

“In the meantime, I would urge you to do whatever you can to calm the atmosphere. I shall do the same.”

Two days later, in response to a question in the Dail from Bertie Ahern, Mr Bruton said that Mr Major had, at the weekend, “expressed a view that a joint approach on the twin-track strategy is the best way to proceed.”

The relationship between the two leaders is in stark contrast to the warmth between Mr Major and Mr Bruton’s predecessor Albert Reynolds.

Mr Major wrote to Mr Reynolds in November 1994 after he resigned as Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader, where he praised him for creating “practically from the day you came into office… an entirely different relationship”.

“You and I have worked together in a way which no two holders of our offices have done in the 70 years and more since Ireland divided.

“We have worked to heal some of the lingering consequences of the past, and above all, we have done all in our power to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

“Your commitment to that cause, your energy and your dedication to it have made a vital difference.”

– This article is based on documents contained in the file labelled 2025/115/827 in the National Archives of Ireland.