. 1990: Peter Brooke sanctions secret contacts with Sinn Fein and the IRA

. October 1991: John Hume drafts first version of Downing Street Declaration

. June 1992: Sinn Fein draws up second draft seeking time scale for Irish unity

. June 1993: Albert Reynolds gives 11th draft to John Major

. October November 1993: Major rejects draft. 10 die in Shankill bombing, eight at Greysteel. London IRA contacts end

. December 1993: Major and Reynolds sign Downing Street Declaration

. August 1994: IRA announces ceasefire

. October 1994: loyalist paramilitaries ceasefire

. February 1996: Docklands bombing heralds resumption of the IRA campaign.