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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Rory Carroll, Ireland correspondent, and the Press Association

Files reveal terms ministers were warned not to use in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson Ireland North United States Stormont
Northern Ireland flag
Other declassified files show that the Northern Irish government once discussed a proposed tunnel to Scotland. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters

It was sound advice for anyone visiting Northern Ireland in 1999 and remains so today: do not refer to Protestants as “Prods”, or to Catholics as “Fenians” or “Taigs”, and whatever you do don’t refer to your visit as “being out here”.

The tips were part of a briefing paper for Peter Mandelson after he became the Labour government’s Northern Ireland secretary, according to files declassified on Thursday.

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