The secret weapon in the Northern Ireland peace process? Humour

Analysis: Humour played a subtle yet significant role in the negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement

The Northern Ireland peace process is remembered for its high-stakes negotiations, political brinkmanship and the eventual signing of the Good Friday Agreement. But one often-overlooked element played a subtle yet significant role: humour.

From sarcastic quips to self-deprecating jokes, humour helped initiate contacts, develop relationships between historical adversaries and even allowed people articulate frustrations without escalating disputes. Whilst humour was not the defining factor to peace in Northern Ireland, it was undeniably woven into the fabric of negotiations.

Breaking the ice

Negotiating peace is no mean feat. The first face-to-face meetings between Sinn Féin and the British government were marked by profound mistrust. Yet, humour found a way in. Tony Blair, keen to establish a new approach to relations, famously shook hands with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, an act symbolic in itself.

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But, never missing an opportunity, Adams presented Blair with an Irish harp, quipping that it was "the only part of Ireland Sinn Féin wanted the prime minister to keep". Through humour here, Adams manages to note his disagreement with the British presence on the island of Ireland, without being viewed as inherently critical or aggressive. Indeed, a notable move and tone to begin their discussions.

Humour in developing relationships

The importance of relationships in peace negotiations cannot be overstated, and humour played a key role in forging connections. One of the most remarkable examples was Mo Mowlam's unconventional approach as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The initial meeting between Mowlam, McGuinness and Adams did not go well and the two sides got off on the wrong foot. Subsequently, Mowlam suggested that they restart the meeting "only this time, no cocks on the table". The blunt humour caught Adams and McGuinness off guard, but it also defused the situation, allowing the talks to continue with less tension.

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Creating solidarity and diffusing tension

At crucial moments, humour served to reinforce solidarity among negotiating teams. Nervous before their first in-person meeting with Sinn Féin in 1994, Northern Ireland Office staff joked over dinner the night before, dubbing their meal "the last supper". They jokingly named it the "last supper" because there had been a decision to not body search the Sinn Féin delegation. It was felt that despite their pasts that there was nothing to suggest that any of them would be joining exploratory dialogue with anything but pacific intentions, and therefore a policy of no searching was approved. The dark humour behind calling it the 'last supper’ acknowledged their anxiety while fostering team cohesion.

How to express frustration with wit

Perhaps the most common function of humour in the peace process was as an outlet for frustration. Negotiations often reached deadlock, and instead of outright hostility, humour was used to communicate grievances. When discussing the slow progress of talks in 1993, Irish diplomat Dermot Nally quipped that the process was "like flogging a dead horse in a blind alley". His memorable phrasing cut through diplomatic niceties to highlight his exasperation.

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The Secretary General of Ireland’s Foreign Ministry Noel Dorr cleverly used '[sic]' to humorously enforce norms delicately, when reporting on an informal dinner between British and Irish officials, where UK Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler was present: Butler Speaking at one point of the British commitment said: we were the moving spirit of the Agreement because we saw it as a very important way of bringing peace to the island of Ireland- especially our part of it [sic]

Through this intelligent use of ‘sic’, Dorr subtly notes his disagreement through enforcement humour regarding British occupation of Ireland without being overtly critical or negative. This would be aimed at, and align, the Irish delegation with the clever use of humour.

The Brits also used humour to express frustration. When Mowlam growing impatient with Blair’s top-down approach, she once remarked that the prime minister thought he "was f***ing Jesus". The comment encapsulated her frustration with Blair's handling of Northern Ireland, with tensions between the Northern Ireland Office and Number 10 during this period as they differed in approaches to the peace process.

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A double-edged sword?

But humour in negotiations is not without risk. Not all jokes landed well, and cultural differences sometimes caused misinterpretations. When McGuinness first entered the UK Cabinet Office, he remarked "so this is where all the damage was done". British officials, thinking he was referencing an IRA mortar attack on No.10 in 1991, tensed up. Embarrassed, McGuinness clarified that he was referring to the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. This moment revealed how humour could have the opposite effect while attempting to ease tensions.

International lessons about having the craic

Outside of Northern Ireland, there are broader lessons here which are relevant to peace processes internationally. Evidently, humour can play a positive role throughout a peace process, in the overt, obvious ways of initiating contacts, maintaining relations and defusing situations. However, it also allows people to express their frustrations in a manner which would not be possible in a normal context. Indeed, it appears that the humour used by the actors of the Northern Ireland peace process was not just a joke.

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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ