Republicans in rural parts of Northern Ireland tried to create "no-go" areas for Protestants, according to new files released to the National Archive as part of the State Papers.
Then-taoiseach Bertie Ahern was informed of the development when he met leading loyalist figures in Dublin in 2003.
The meeting, which was also attended by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh Robin Eames, included Mervyn Gibson, who was chair of the Loyalist Commission and grand secretary of the Orange Order.
In a memo, Mr Ahern was said to have told the commission that he had devoted so much of his time to Northern Ireland as he wanted to bring peace and stability.
He was, he told them, "absolutely sincere" in his efforts to work with loyalists, adding: "We could not change the past, but we respected different beliefs and traditions."
Jackie McDonald, a leading loyalist figure, responded, saying he felt the "sincerity" of Mr Ahern's approach did not come across to people within his community.
"They felt threatened, isolated and second-class. They believed that there was an iron triangle of the British and Irish governments and Sinn Féin working against them," he said.
Mr Ahern responded by saying that he would not have collapsed the Stormont institutions in the same manner as the British government.
This was in the wake of 'Stormontgate' - a controversy where it was alleged that an IRA spy ring was operating inside Stormont.
Mr Ahern highlighted how voters in the Republic had been asked to give up Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution.
"The loyalist community did not seem to appreciate that we had given away Articles 2 and 3 which were held dear by Irish people. He was not interested in running Northern Ireland, but he wanted North/South bodies to work," a note said.
Mary Robinson's South America tour 'ready to be exploited' - State Papers
Separately, today's State Paper release tells the story of how a trip by then-president Mary Robinson to South America in 1995 was ready to be exploited by certain media commentators.
Mrs Robinson embarked on a three-legged tour in March 1995, visiting Chile Argentina and Brazil - however some moments of the trip sparked controversy in Irish media at the time.
During her time in Chile, Mrs Robinson shook hands with the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, a man whose 16-year dictatorial reign saw many of his political opponents tortured and killed.
The handshake, the president’s itinerary and the cost of the trip sparked some negative media coverage, which was highlighted in a memo by Joe Hayes, an official in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He warned that certain commentators within the Irish media were "ready to exploit the slightest weakness" of the State visits.
On 4 April 1995, he wrote: "From a media viewpoint the coverage of the recent visits to South America suggests that the Irish media are no longer content with bland uncritical coverage of the ceremonial of State visits abroad.
"The several lengthy (and occasionally hostile) conversations which I had with journalists over the duration of the South American visit persuades me that, when it comes to the President and her visits abroad, there are now some singularly ill disposed media commentators who are ready to exploit the slightest weakness."
He noted that RTÉ radio programmes such as The Gay Byrne Show, The Pat Kenny Show and Liveline - the State broadcaster’s main phone-in programmes at the time - had received a "significant number of calls criticising the visits and their planning".
He said that despite the "considerable significance" of the Irish Times as the paper of record, he said it would be RTÉ’s coverage which would "ultimately determine popular perceptions of an event like a State visit".
He wrote: "If RTÉ can be kept on-side, whatever may be written in the Irish Times can be heavily counterbalanced by the packages on the main evening RTÉ news bulletins and the reports on Morning Ireland.
"In the case of the visits to Argentina, Chile and Brazil it was Eileen Whelan's reports, particularly her damaging Morning Ireland interview from Sao Paolo, which ultimately turned the tide of opinion very decisively.
"Up until then it was possible to respond to the negative publicity from Argentina and Chile. The Morning Ireland interview however prompted the attentions of the Pat Kenny show and from there on we were, to put it mildly, attempting to bolt the doors on a decidedly vacant stable."
Push to increase compensation to men accused of Sallins train robbery
Files from the State Papers also show how a solicitor made repeated direct appeals to then-taoiseach Albert Reynolds to have compensation given to men suspected of committing the Sallins train robbery significantly increased.
In an advisory to the taoiseach, then Minister for Justice Máire Geoghegan-Quinn described the approaches by solicitor Greg O’Neill as "entirely inappropriate".
She claimed they breached a negotiating framework already in place between the two sides.
Mr O’Neill was representing four members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party who had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the train robbery.
The incident occurred when the Cork to Dublin mail train was held up near Sallins in Co Kildare on 31 March 1976 and around IR£200,000 was stolen.
Three men - Brian McNally, Osgur Breatnach and Nicky Kelly - were convicted of the robbery, while John Fitzpatrick fled Ireland before his trial.
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Mr Breatnach and Mr McNally were both acquitted on appeal on the basis that their statements had been made under duress.
Mr Kelly absconded before his trial had concluded but returned to Ireland after the Provisional IRA admitted responsibility for the train robbery in 1980.
A letter from Mr O'Neill to Mr Reynolds in December 1992 suggested they hold a private meeting to "reach a final settlement".
The newly-released files show an initial offer of IR£75,000 had been made to Mr Kelly which was subsequently increased to IR£250,000, while IR£100,000 each had been offered to Mr Breatnach and Mr McNally, and IR£50,000 to Mr Fitzpatrick.
However, Mr O'Neill said he could not recommend acceptance of such amounts "in conscience"
In January 1993, Ms Geoghegan-Quinn noted there had been ongoing negotiations between legal representatives of the State and the four men on compensation.
She said Mr O'Neill was holding out for IR£600,000 for Mr Kelly and IR£250,000 each for Mr Breatnach and Mr McNally as well as IR£125,000 for Mr Fitzpatrick.
The minister however, said she had received legal advice that the amounts being sought were "far too high."
[Based on documents 2025/125/317, 2025/123/50 and 2025/115/968]
