Transcript of an interview with John Reid, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, by David Frost for BBC Breakfast with Frost on 11 March 2001. On 30 January a Belfast High Court ruled that David Trimble's ban on Sinn Fein taking part in North-South ministerial councils was illegal. The ban had been imposed on the basis of perceived IRA intransigence on decommissioning. Amid high level political talks on these issues, the Real IRA detonated a bomb in London on 4 March, injuring one man. In this interview Reid discusses the possibility of political agreement on the issues of decommissioning and policing. Breakfast with Frost was a weekly BBC current affairs programme.
Date of Release/Broadcast: 11 March 2001
Name of First Interviewee: John Reid
Role at time of Interview: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Interviewer: David Frost
Purpose: News
Media: Transcript
Copyright: © BBC Breakfast with Frost
Link: Read the transcript
Programme/Book/Article: BBC Breakfast with Frost
Time Period covered: 2001
Key Individuals: John Reid, Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, John de Chastelain, Chris Patten, Peter Mandelson
Key Words: Policing, Patten Report, North-South relations, Sinn Fein, SDLP, Provisional IRA, paramilitary, dissident republican, Real IRA, Omagh bombing