We did not know, and could not, that the Minister of Munitions had been called off from his regular work within five weeks before the beginning of the offensive on the Somme, for which an unprecedented outlay of material had been undertaken.
The negotiations proceeded, and were conducted on the principle of discussion through a go-between.

The parties never met: Mr.Lloyd George submitted proposals to each side separately.

Redmond and his colleagues insisted on protecting themselves by securing a written document, so that, as it was hoped, there could be no understanding and the terms come to would be final.
Those of us who hoped for a completely new approach to the problem were doomed to disappointment.

The affair was taken up where the Buckingham Palace Conference left it.

The terms to be arranged were terms of exclusion for Ulster; and the two questions of defining the area and the period met the negotiators on the threshold.
It has been shown above that Redmond regarded as vital the distinction between temporary and permanent exclusion.