Vol. 434 No. 3
63 Mr. Barry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason he did not call a special meeting of the Anglo-Irish conference to discuss the reported parliamentary arrangements between the British Government and the Official Unionist Party.
In the wake of allegations of a "deal" between the British Government and the UUP in the context of the House of Commons votes on the Maastricht Treaty last July, both the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State gave assurances that no such arrangement had been concluded. The Government has accepted those assurances.
At its meeting on 10 September, the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference conducted a detailed review of the prospects for political progress, in particular in the light of the developments in late July. We have also availed of the machinery of the Conference to register our concerns about those developments.
