Paul Moore is the author of ‘Doctor Paisley and Mister Clerk – Recollections of Ian Paisley’s Agriculture Committee Years’. It is available from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09WCPWHQH
On the 2nd of December 2024, it will be exactly 25 years since ‘the appointed day’ – the day when legislative powers and executive authorities were devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly. But what were things really like back in thse heady days of 1999?
Paul Moore – a former Assembly official who had been seconded to his job ‘up the hill’ the week before devolution – remembers very well the high hopes and expectations of many, and the vehement opposition of some, to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and its Institutions.
Paul has adapted a number of ‘episodes’ from his book: ‘Doctor Paisley and Mister Clerk – Recollections of Ian Paisley’s Agriculture Committee Years’ which is available in paperback and e-book formats from amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.eu/d/89Lkwxq
In this episode, which covers the Assembly’s earliest weeks of operation, Paul discovers that he is about to work closely alongside a certain Ian R K Paisley – the Agreement’s most vocal opponent at the time.
Paul has also read this extract for those who prefer audio. Listen below:
Episode one: Paisley springs a surprise
I normally don’t like Mondays, but this one – the 29th of November 1999 – is different, and I’m excited. We are finally getting round to devolution – six hundred or so days since the Agreement was signed.
I am sitting in the Officials’ Gallery overlooking the Assembly Chamber, where I’ve already witnessed some very interesting events. The day had started with a very acrimonious debate on the validity of Seamus Mallon’s ‘resignation’, and a failed attempt by Ian Paisley and others to exclude Sinn Fein members from the Executive,
After that, we had the long process of nominations for the Executive’s ten ministerial offices, and that was when things really kicked off. There had been utter pandemonium in the Chamber, and in the galleries, when Sinn Fein nominated Martin McGuinness as the Minister (Designate) of Education.
To me, it was almost unthinkable that this man – widely assumed to be an IRA commander – could be placed in charge of the education of our wee ones.
It certainly brought it home to me that the realities of devolution were going to be uncomfortable for some, and the Initial Presiding Officer (IPO), Lord Alderdice, had to threaten to clear the galleries if the aggressive shouting, screaming and name-calling continued.
*
Things eventually settled down, and, after an adjournment which allowed us all a bite to eat, we’ve returned to the Gallery for the business of setting up ten shadow Statutory Committees and for appointments of Chairs and Deputy Chairs for each of these Committees.
The Chair of the Education Committee is, unsurprisingly, nominated first, and the Regional Development Committee Chair is next to go. Then, according to d’Hondt, it is the DUP’s turn to nominate, and Dr Ian Paisley (the party’s Nominating Officer) slowly stands up.
It’s my first time seeing him this close up, but his physical presence and his booming voice are exactly like they are on TV, as he announces, very clearly:
“I choose the Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, and I nominate myself”.
There is a loud gasp in the Gallery.
Sitting alongside me are Martin and Stephen – the three of us making up the small team that are lined up to support that very Committee! I look at them accusingly, but we all know that the gasper was me.
Martin, with his silver hair, is one of a number of Committee Clerks who have been preparing for devolution since July 1998, while I only took up my new post of Assistant Committee Clerk last Thursday, as did Stephen, the Executive Support Officer, who is a lot younger than I.
So, we are not yet very familiar with each other. What we are, however, is optimistic – hopeful that devolution will represent a seismic change in local politics, and that we might just be on our way towards a peaceful and stable future. That’s what the Agreement is meant to bring us, after all.
We titter uneasily when the IPO asks Dr Paisley if he will accept his own nomination. He has to ask. It’s part of the formal procedures, and the good Lord is a strict follower of those. We titter again when Dr Paisley says that he “will indeed”.
I glance at Martin and Stephen, who both look as stunned as I feel. Dr Paisley! As our Chair? Wow!
We are about to work alongside a giant of a man. A legend. A firebrand preacher whose “Noes”, “Nays” and (especially) “Nevers” can bring thousands onto the streets. And a man who is on record as wanting nothing to do with the Good Friday Agreement or its new Institutions. Like the Assembly.
And yet, here he is, volunteering to play the leading role in one of the Assembly’s Committees? I didn’t see that coming at all.
We had heard no rumours that the ‘big man’ planned to give himself a job, and we are truly stunned when he does. Had I been aware at this point that Chairs of Statutory Committees were to get an additional £10k per year salary, I might have been less surprised.
After a little while, George Savage of the Ulster Unionist Party (ruddy-cheeked and unknown to me, but apparently a farmer) accepts nomination to the position of Deputy Chairman to our Committee – the first Deputy role to be appointed. That’s our two positions sorted.
At 8.46 pm the sitting is suspended and it’s time to go home. I don’t expect a great deal of sleep tonight. I’m going to be working with Ian Paisley. My goodness!
*
It’s the next day, and the Assembly sitting is resumed at 10.30 then suspended almost immediately to allow party Whips to agree the membership of the ten Statutory Committees. That is a big job, but there has been a surprising willingness among the parties to co-operate, and members’ names for all ten Committees are announced shortly after 4pm.
In addition to the Chair and Deputy Chair, we now know who the rest of our members will be. I am immediately struck by three things: Ian Paisley Junior is joining his father on the Committee; six different parties are represented on it; and (crucially) two of the Committee are Sinn Fein MLAs.
How on earth will the Committee be able to function with the DUP leader as Chair, I wonder, given his party’s insistence that it would not work with Sinn Fein (and not forgetting his vow to ‘smash’ that party)?
*
It’s shortly after the announcement of the Committee’s membership, and Martin and I are waiting in the corridor outside Dr Paisley’s ‘Party leader’ room in Parliament Buildings.
Here they come! I’m a little bit thrilled as Dr Paisley’s entourage breezes along the corridor towards us. The man has obvious presence, and those walking deferentially behind him include his son, some party staff, and two burly RUC minders. Martin whispers to me that they’re called Close Protection Officers or CPOs.
As we all go into the office, Dr Paisley says: “My men will wait in the side room while we have our meeting”.
I’ve been told that anyone with a weapon is meant to check it into the armoury – which sits close to the main entrance – when they arrive at Parliament Buildings. However, given their bulging suit jackets, I am convinced that that Dr Paisley’s ‘men’ have more immediate access to theirs!
The other staff also head off to another room, but Ian junior remains with the Chairman. Introductions are made, and Dr Paisley calls Martin “Mister Clerk” for the first time. I quite like that. I am, however, feeling a bit uncomfortable that Ian Junior has stayed with us. Junior has no more business attending our meeting with the Chairman than any of the other Committee members, I think.
However, Dr Paisley quickly clears that up by telling us that Ian Junior is to be his “Parliamentary Private Secretary”, or PPS, and that the Committee team can approach Junior if we need to deal with papers or make contact when he’s unavailable. It has occurred to us that Dr Paisley might be hard to get hold of, given his triple role as an MEP, MP and now MLA/Committee Chair, and this feels like a very practical and welcome solution.
Pleasantries over, Dr Paisley suggests we go through the list of the Agriculture Committee members. Ian Junior grabs a printout and reads the names out, one by one, making a snide or flippant remark about each member. He clearly thinks he’s being a wit. I can’t help thinking he’s only half right!
When he comes to the Sinn Fein Members, Junior says: “Well he’s a gunman” and “Oh, there’s another gunman”. I’m not entirely sure whether or not he is joking, but I am taken aback by his informality in front of Assembly officials he has only just met.
His father doesn’t react or try to intervene, but Dr P’s demeanour is much more formal, more professional. Then again, he has a lot of parliamentary experience as an MP and MEP, and I’m aware that it’s Ian Junior’s first major political role.
The list finished, and with many of the characters suitably assassinated, Dr Paisley has an idea: “I think we should have all the members round to the house for everyone to get to know each other and Mummy can make them tea”.
My mouth falls open. I catch Martin’s eye and his expression confirms that I haven’t misheard. A shocked-looking Ian Junior splutters “No Dad, we can’t do that – there’s two Shinners on the Committee”. Dr Paisley quickly backtracks, but I think we’ve just seen Ian Junior playing a ‘minder’ role, and I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of that sort of thing in the coming weeks and months.
*
It’s the day after our meeting with the Paisleys. Stephen and I are in our semi-open-plan office on the fourth floor of Parliament Buildings, making final preparations for the Committee’s first meeting. We have just come back from a coffee break with Clerking colleagues, during which I got a real sense of the excitement and anticipation that is building among all the Committee teams.
My office phone rings. On the other end of the call is a very familiar voice (much imitated, including by me), and the Chairman announces that he is “looking for Mister Clerk”.
Now, I am aware that there are only five Committee Clerks covering ten Statutory Committees, and that Martin is Clerking the Finance Committee too. So, I’m not surprised that he hasn’t answered his phone, but I realize, with a small shiver, that Martin’s phone has re-directed to mine.
Trying to suppress the sudden adrenaline surge, I remind Dr Paisley that we met yesterday, and I ask how I can help. “We need to get the Minister and the Permanent Secretary up in front of the Committee next week”, he says. “Get that organized, will you?”
Well, my eleven years’ experience as a Department official immediately kicks in. In my world, Permanent Secretaries are revered, and you have to make an appointment to meet one. And as for getting to see a Minister? Even harder. Correspondence casework. Diary Secretaries. Briefing. These things take time, you know.
So, putting on my best ‘Sir Humphrey’ manner – polite and reassuring, with just a touch of patronization, I relay these realities to the Chairman – doing my best to sound helpful but really seeking to manage his expectations.
That lasts all of about ten seconds, then the Chairman makes his expectations crystal clear to me. “Things are different now. The Minister and her department are now accountable to my Committee”, he tells me. “Things will also need to get done much quicker than you might be used to”, he insists, adding that I need to understand that the Committee team (me included) “is there to ensure that the Committee’s needs are met, and met immediately”.
I find myself sitting bolt upright in my previously comfortable office chair, and Sir Humphrey has been replaced by a parade ground private whose only permissible response is: “Sir. Yes Sir! I’ll get on to it right away Sir!”
Hampered somewhat by the rocket now trailing from my backside, I rush off to find Martin and discuss how to approach the Department. We make a couple of calls and it is clear that things have changed at their end too, with the Minister (Brid Rodgers) and the Permanent Secretary agreeing to meet with Dr Paisley two days later.
It had amused me somewhat that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (a new name for my old department) had been the last portfolio to be chosen, and I wondered what Mrs Rodgers had let herself in for!
*
It’s the 9th of December 1999, and today sees the first meeting of the Committee.
There is a frisson of excitement as the Chairman calls the meeting to order. No-one knows how this is going to go, and we are anxious that there could be an almighty row if the Chairman fails to acknowledge or include the Sinn Fein members. Rumours are that this might be the case.
Here we go. It’s Dr Paisley who, as Chair, calls members to speak, and I’m holding my breath because it’s now the turn of the Sinn Fein members to say something.
With his pen, the Doc taps the table 2 or 3 times, then (and I can see his eyes are firmly closed at this stage) he points his pen in the direction of first Gerry McHugh, then Francie Molloy.
It’s quite clear that he is inviting them to speak (and they do), but he isn’t calling them by name, or making eye contact with them. I reckon it’s a pragmatic solution, and, looking around and now breathing normally, I can see the rest of the team are as relieved as I.
*
I should report that Dr Paisley continued to use his pen to facilitate the Sinn Fein members’ contributions throughout his time as Chair. And many months later, when defending his chairmanship during a heated exchange in the Assembly Chamber, he argued that none of his political opponents could ever say that he had “given them a raw deal” from the Chair. I laughed when he added “They all admit that I call them carefully. I call some of them prayerfully, but I do call them all”. That would explain why his eyes are closed, I thought.
*
A few Committee meetings later and we’ve reached the end of January. The past six or seven weeks have been like a whirlwind, but they have given me a clarity of purpose about my role with the Assembly secretariat and I feel ready for whatever the year 2000 might bring. It’s true that I had one uncomfortable early exchange with Dr Paisley, but since then I believe that I’ve earned some credibility with him, and indeed that all the Committee members are content that they can rely on me completely.
The Chairman’s behaviour is, however, confusing me somewhat. Within the Committee, members have just agreed a forward work programme. That is a list of the Committee’s priorities, and it reflects a real sense of ‘working together to a common cause’ among previously opposing parties. I have clearly seen that this ‘working together’ is being encouraged – and led – by Dr Paisley.
Yet outside the Committee, the mood music isn’t good. There is no sign of the hoped-for decommissioning of the IRA’s arsenal of weapons, and recriminations about this, and the outworking of the Agreement generally, are becoming a daily feature of the news. It is, of course, Dr Paisley who is frequently front and centre in terms of his opposition (to pretty much everything) and in apportioning blame (for pretty much everything) to the larger Unionist party.
It seems to me like Dr Paisley is attempting to take two very inconsistent positions, and I can’t help wondering how that approach is going to end up, and worrying how that might affect the team and me. Time will tell.
This is a guest slot to give a platform for new writers either as a one off, or a prelude to becoming part of the regular Slugger team.
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