Thousands of declassified documents have been released in the last week from the archives of Dublin, Belfast and London, bringing new insight into Irish events, politics and personalities of times past.<\/p>\n
Dublin\u2019s archival material focuses mostly on documents which have turned 30 years old this year, centring on 1995. Here are eight things we learned from the State Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1. Don\u2019t release records on King Edward VIII\u2019s abdication, British government urged Ireland<\/p>\n British officials were very concerned about papers Ireland might possess<\/a> from the lead-up to Edward VIII\u2019s abdication. Fearing what might come out in declassified documents in 1966, 30 years on from events, they asked Dublin not to release one conversation in particular in which \u00c9amon de Valera was briefed on what was likely to happen. In the event, the record had already been lost. <\/p>\n 2. Gerry Kelly named as \u2018dominant figure\u2019 of 1996 IRA leadership in Garda security document<\/p>\n Garda\u00ed observed some discontent within republican ranks in 1996 over the Provisional IRA\u2019s strategy, with a newly released document revealing the individuals the force thought held most sway in the leadership<\/a> at the time. Gerry Kelly, who was among them, also gained some praise from officials for his peacekeeping efforts on the streets after the Good Friday Agreement.<\/p>\n 3. Cheaper to send cervical smear samples to England than train staff, officials said <\/p>\n Problems with cervical smear samples<\/a> were already on the minds of government officials in the 1980s, decades before Vicky Phelan and the Cervical Check scandal came to public attention. An official and a junior minister discussed delays in testing \u2013 and noted that it might be cheaper to send the samples to England than to train technicians.<\/p>\n 4. Christy Moore complained about questioning at Holyhead under terror laws in 2004<\/p>\n In the wake of the September 11th, 2001, attacks, checks got much stricter at UK ports and airports, leading to consternation among the Irish community at the time. Singer Christy Moore issued a complaint<\/a> about his treatment when he and his driver were detained and interviewed in Holyhead in 2004.<\/p>\n 5. Dublin Zoo \u2018distressed\u2019 as panda\u2019s death on return to China linked in report to Irish stay <\/p>\n In 1986, one of the social occasions on the calendar for any curious Dubliner was a visit to the two pandas briefly at Dublin Zoo<\/a> on loan from China. Keepers were concerned, however, when one of the pandas died after returning home, with the implication that their trip to Ireland could have contributed. They sought more information from Irish diplomats.<\/p>\n 6. Concern over UK media coverage after vandalism at Limerick Jewish cemetery<\/p>\n A 1995 attack on a Jewish cemetery in Limerick, during which a Swastika was drawn amid other damage, drew widespread condemnation. The incident, documents reveal<\/a>, drew interest in the UK, with media queries sent to embassy press officers seeking information on further developments. Limerick City Council took the cemetery under its control, it was confirmed.<\/p>\n 7. Northern nationalists increasingly \u2018anti-British\u2019 rather than \u2018anti-unionist\u2019 by 1980s<\/p>\n Northern nationalists had become increasingly anti-British by the early 1980s, complicating any UK state efforts to tackle the violence there, then-taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was told by a senior official<\/a>.<\/p>\n While prior generations were anti-unionist, remembering discrimination in housing, votes and jobs, the younger generation had faced direct rule and British security interventions. Under Thatcher, there was no \u201cescape valve\u201d of appealing directly to London.<\/p>\n 8. Boyzone fans falling ill due to \u2018heat and hysteria\u2019 prompted call for concert law change<\/p>\n Twelve people were taken to hospital due to \u201cheat and hysteria\u201d at a Boyzone<\/a> gig in Tallaght<\/a> in 1995, prompting the attorney general to warn the government that concert legislation needed to be urgently updated<\/a>.<\/p>\n