GREEN" AND "WHITE PAPER" AS THE FIRST ATTEMPTS OF THE NEGOTIATING PROCESS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ULSTER CRISIS
The author addresses the problem of diplomatic settlement of the Ulster crisis during the Premiership of Edward Heath in the UK. For the first time, the stages of the negotiation process during this period are indicated. "Green Paper" and "White Paper" were released by the conservative government and were recognized as important steps. The aim was to settle the Ulster problem and there was a need for public justification of the results of the direct rule introduction and for the referral of settlement's prospects of the conflict. The source base of the research was made up of various documents, such as the text of the "Green" and "White book", British and Irish parliamentary debates, Irish and British periodicals. The article comprehensively explores the background and objectives of the "Green Paper" and "White Paper's" publication. The documents are presented as a stage in the development of the negotiation process in the framework of the Ulster crisis. The author argues that the "Green Paper" was theoretical in nature, presenting an analysis of the political and historical development of Northern Ireland until 1972, as well as various ways of resolving the conflict, which were proposed by the then influential Northern Ireland parties and organizations. The "White Paper" suggested concrete steps to resolve the situation, which represented a solution to the Ulster problem, based on the interests of the conservative party. Both documents confirm the constitutional status of Northern Ireland as part of the UK, until the population of the region wants to secede from the UK, which in reality was not feasible, due to the conditions indicated by the conservatives in the documents. The author concludes that both documents were declarative in nature. The article presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of the texts of documents, their public perception from the British and Irish sides, analyzes the results of their publication, and also indicates the contribution to the solution of the Ulster problem.