The secret British–republican link in these years, which came to be known as the back-channel, had three distinct phases. In the first, which began in 1990 and lasted for three years, London actively courted the republicans, sending nineteen messages while Sinn Féin replied only once. Occasional meetings took place, sometimes in Northern Ireland and sometimes in London. In the second phase, between February and November 1993, the pace quickened with an average of a message a week passing back and forward as the possibility of a formal meeting between republicans and the government was
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