The background to the appointment of a commission to advise the new Secretary of State, Mr William Whitelaw, after Direct Rule in March 1972 is revealed in this year's Stormont releases.
In a letter during March 1972, a senior Stormont official stressed that "in view of the largely hostile reception to the whole idea (of an advisory commission), one must be careful not to appoint members who are likely to be directly involved in public affairs after the interregnum."
The various departments drew up lists of possible nominees including lawyers, businessmen and prominent Catholics. However, a note in the file lists a number of individuals as "non-starters" including Mr Tom Conaty, a leading Catholic businessman and chairman of the Central Citizens Defence Committee (CCDC) and Canon Pádraig Murphy.
Mr W. Slinger of the Ministry of Community Relations referred to "strong pressures to nominate the chairman of the CCDC, Mr Conaty" but added he felt this would be badly received by many and that the Secretary of State should be told of this.
In the end, however, Mr Conaty was one of three Catholic nominees on the Commission appointed by Mr Whitelaw in May 1972.