Tony Blair likened Northern Ireland to Middle East in church leader talks
BBC News NI education correspondent
The National Archive's documents include briefing notes prepared by officials for the prime minister and subsequent minutes of the meeting, which took place on 24 January 2002.'Too political' The minutes of the meeting were written by Northern Ireland-born Francis Campbell, then a Downing Street official.
Mr Campbell also expressed concerns that as the only Catholic leader, Cardinal Brady "might feel somewhat isolated if the discussion becomes too political". Mr Campbell wrote a subsequent account of the meeting for a Northern Ireland Office official, Kirsten McFarlane, on 25 January.According to that account, Archbishop Eames told Mr Blair that the benefits of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 needed to be explained "to ordinary people"."The problem was that the churches had lost touch with working class communities.
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