TODAY AND over the next two publication days, (December 31st and January 2nd) The Irish Timesexamines cabinet papers for 1978, released in Dublin, London and Belfast, traditionally kept secret for 30 years.
As our specialist team of historians and journalists shows, the 1978 papers yield fascinating insights into the way in which politicians and senior civil servants dealt with the challenges of the time. Occasionally papers are withheld due to sensitivities, and later released.
Public access from January 2nd, 2009
The Dublin papers may be inspected at the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, Ireland, www.nationalarchives.ie
The Belfast papers may be inspected at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland. It is preparing to move to the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, www.proni.gov.uk
The British papers may be inspected at the National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, England, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Coverage of the State Papers 1978 is edited by Kieran Fagan.
Alison Healyis an Irish Timesjournalist
Dr John Bowmanis a broadcaster and historian. He is author of De Valera and the Ulster Question: 1917-1973.
Dr Eamon Phoenixis a principal lecturer in history at Stranmillis University College, Queens University Belfast, and author of Northern Nationalism: Nationalist Politics, Partition and the Catholic Minority in N Ireland 1890-1940.
Dr Jonathan BardonOBE is a historian. His History of Ireland in 250 Episodes has just been published by Gill and Macmillan.
Deaglán de Bréadúnis an Irish Timespolitical correspondent. An updated edition of his The Far Side of Revenge - making peace in Northern Ireland was published this year.
Dr John Bewis a lecturer in modern British history at Peterhouse, Cambridge and the author of The Glory of Being Britons: Civic Unionism in Nineteenth-Century Belfast (2008).