The Stormont cabinet in August 1969 considered if a minister should have met the Rev Ian Paisley. The minister of agriculture, Mr Phelim O'Neill, conveyed the unanimous view of a community conference, held after the riots, that it was a mistake for a minister of the Crown to receive Dr Paisley. The point was made at the meeting that Dr Paisley had held meetings in Stormont grounds in contravention of the ban on outdoor assemblies.
However, the prime minister, Major Chichester-Clark, pointed out that he had given an undertaking that the government would be accessible to any interest. Dr Paisley had been given no privilege which had not been equally extended to representatives of the other extreme of opinion.
