Civil servant’s memoir of working in Stormont in the 1970s to be published this week in the News Letter

Starting on Monday we publish the memoirs of a civil servant who worked among ministers and leading officials during the Troubles.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Nov 2020, 06:00 BST
The civil servant Sinclair Duncan photographed outside Buckingham Palace after being honoured by the Queen with an ISO in 1984The civil servant Sinclair Duncan photographed outside Buckingham Palace after being honoured by the Queen with an ISO in 1984
The civil servant Sinclair Duncan photographed outside Buckingham Palace after being honoured by the Queen with an ISO in 1984

Sinclair Duncan, a Second World War veteran, was in the Northern Ireland Civil Service from 1949 to 1985.

He worked in the ministries of Education, Finance and Agriculture, the Cabinet Office, Office of the Executive, Northern Ireland Office and the Department of Environment.

He was awarded the ISO in 1984.

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The retired Northern Ireland senior civil servant Sinclair Duncan, photographed at his home in Holywood, Co Down in 2020, aged 95, Picture Stephen Davison PacemakerThe retired Northern Ireland senior civil servant Sinclair Duncan, photographed at his home in Holywood, Co Down in 2020, aged 95, Picture Stephen Davison Pacemaker
The retired Northern Ireland senior civil servant Sinclair Duncan, photographed at his home in Holywood, Co Down in 2020, aged 95, Picture Stephen Davison Pacemaker

In his recollections, which will run over several days, Mr Duncan recounts his time from joining Stormont Castle in 1970, then aged in his 40s, where his various roles included note-taker to Cabinet meetings.

Little could he know that the security situation would rapidly deteriorate, and the political situation too, leading to the proroguing of the Northern Ireland government in 1972.

He recounts attending Troubles funerals because they were increasing in number and it would not be possible for a minister to attend them all, and working alongside William Whitelaw, and later the Sunningale power-sharing executive.

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