Former House of Commons speaker George Thomas, who was proposed to chair Anglo-Irish talks in the 1990s, was “bitchy”, “petulant” and never forgot slights, real or imagined, Irish officials declared.
Thomas, by now elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Tonypandy, was one of nine names proposed in 1991 by the British government and unionists to chair talks between Dublin and the Northern Irish parties.
In a sharply-critical judgment, Irish officials reported that Thomas was “widely disliked” by MPs: “He has a petulant and ‘bitchy’ temperament and does not forgive slights, alleged or real.”
His political rise was explained by the “large streak of sycophancy” he displayed towards prime minister Margaret Thatcher, which led one senior journalist to describe him privately as a “kind of Welsh Uncle Tom”.
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Former attorney general and lord chancellor Lord Michael Havers was another of the names proposed by London and the unionists, but he was liked more than respected by the Irish side.
He lacked “much of the pomposity associated with his profession in this country”, said a Foreign Affairs briefing note, adding: “He is relaxed, urbane, good-humoured and [after a few drinks] frequently indiscreet.”
However, he had a “number of blemishes on his legal reputation”, especially for leading the prosecution of the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven cases – who were all wrongly convicted over bombings.
Meanwhile, the possibility that another of the proposed nine names, the former lord chief justice of Northern Ireland Lord Robert Lowry, would be selected was strongly opposed in Dublin
Saying that he had been held in “deep suspicion” for many years, the briefing document said he had been associated with some of the “worst excesses of legal practice” during the Troubles.
Former home secretary and Northern Ireland secretary Merlyn Rees, another of the proposed choices, is noted as being warm and likeable, as well as having a wife of “Irish origin”.
However, he was “often muddle-headed” and had “unmistakable” unionist sympathies: “He comes across as an honest and concerned observer, anxious to help, well-meaning but ineffectual,” it went on.
The Ulster Unionist leader Jim Molyneaux did not want “a world figure” to chair the North/South talks because that would lead to “extravagant expectations for the outcome”, he said.
Former British foreign secretary David Owen was seen to be “very unlikely to be sympathetic” and was ruled out by the Irish side because he was “widely known as arrogant, impatient and difficult to work with”.
The proposal by the unionist side of former Irish Labour Party cabinet minister Conor Cruise O’Brien – who was by then well known for pro-unionist views - is noted simply as “hardly a serious suggestion”.
The Irish government proposed a number of names, including former deputy Labour leader Denis Healey, who had Irish descent, and ex-Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam, who had a “very benevolent interest in Ireland”.
The documents also suggest that the high commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom, Roy McMurtry had been approached informally for the position but was ruled out by Ian Paisley as not acceptable.
This came after Mr McMurtry had revealed in conversation with British officials that he had said in a speech 15 years before that the Democratic Unionist Party leader was not a proper person to visit Canada.
This batch of Strand Two talks was ultimately chaired by former governor-general of Australia Sir Ninian Stephen – who was not among the candidates discussed in the document.