Father Xxxx Xxxx. Father Xxxx Xxxx was a priest of the Redemptorist Order of the Catholic Church, and he was posted to Clonard Monastery in north Belfast in 1961, where he spent forty years of his priestly life. From 1975 he developed a personal relationship with Xxxxx Xxxxx, and later he developed friendly relationship with a few loyalist paramilitaries as well. He hoped to persuade the IRA to end its armed campaign. In 1986, he opened channels between Xxxxx and the British government and between Xxxxx and SDLP leader Xxxx Xxxx (Xxxxx, 2024). Xxxxx-Xxxx process began in December 1987 with first meetings in Clonard Monastery and then continued, and this dialogue initiated a peace process which developed further with the change of governments in Britain and Ireland (Xxxxxxx, 2007, pp. 277-279). From the autumn of 1992 he arranged meetings between Xxxxxx XxXxxxxxxx and an envoy of Taoiseach Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx. The contacts between Father Xxxx, Xxxxx and Xxxx became public in April 1993, and Father Xxxx‟s role receded thereafter (Xxxxx, 2004, pp. 13-25; 42-43; 75-76). In conclusion, it can be said that backchannel communications can go on even when violence pursue. In fact, secret indirect talks usually take place between low level participants, and are focused on interrupting violence, whereas direct talks take place between higher ranking members of the two sides and may involve a bargaining process depending on the limits of the demands. Therefore, direct talks can be more successful. On the other side, when direct contacts are yet not possible, indirect communications may prepare the ground for and facilitate direct contacts.
