Preparing the Peace

A Political House

Hillsborough Castle has been a political house ever since it was built - I say house, rather than building, as its political credentials lie in its residents past and present, who over the centuries have held significant political roles.

Wills Hill, who built the house, was the first Secretary of State for the American Colonies. In this capacity in 1771, he wined and dined U.S. founding father, Benjamin Franklin, at the castle.

The house remained in the ownership of the politically-active Hill family until they sold it to the British government in 1925, making it the home of the Governor of Northern Ireland, a new role created in the wake of the Partition of Ireland. In 1973, the role was abolished – Lord Grey, the last Governor, moved out, and William Whitelaw, the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland moved in. It was in this role as the home of the Secretary of State, that Hillsborough Castle became a venue for talks during the NI peace process.

Hillsborough Castle’s Role in the Northern Irish Peace Process

While the ultimate breakthrough moment in the Good Friday Agreement (officially Belfast Agreement), would come at Castle Buildings at Stormont on the 10 April 1998, some of the preparatory work took place at Hillsborough Castle. The castle was at that time home to Secretary of State, Mo Mowlam, and the base used by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his staff during the negotiations.

The Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing, but this was only the start. Commitments were made to deal with many issues, including police reform, civil and political rights, paramilitary disarmament, and prisoner release. Some of these matters became serious sticking points in the peace process and were discussed at length at Hillsborough Castle in the years that followed.

The Smallest Room: Lady Grey’s Study

The smallest room in Hillsborough Castle is now being used to tell the story of these private, behind the scenes meetings that helped pave the way to peace. Lady Grey’s Study, named after Lady Esmé Grey, the wife of the last Governor of Northern Ireland, is not really a study, but a small sitting room, furnished with a sofa and a couple of comfortable armchairs. Just as the Throne Room is large enough to accommodate dozens of journalists and onlookers, Lady Grey’s Study is small enough to make one-to-one conversations feel private.

For this reason, Lady Grey's Study was often used for talks in the lead up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and those that followed it, which dealt with the difficult issues of decommissioning and devolution of policing and justice. In small bilateral meetings away from the spotlight, views were explained, questions were asked, and compromises were made.

Even when these meetings were frustrating or unsuccessful, they helped to slowly build personal relationships between the key players of the peace process. The importance of this should not be underestimated – trust, as one of the Irish delegates to the talks commented, is the currency of negotiation.