In 1972, Keith McDowall, who has died aged 96, was contacted by the Conservative cabinet minister Willie Whitelaw. Direct rule had just been imposed on Northern Ireland, and Whitelaw, an uncertain media performer, was made the first secretary of state for the region. McDowall, an experienced journalist then serving as chief information officer at the Home Office, took up the invitation to join Whitelaw’s department. After hesitating initially and assuring Whitelaw that his Labour sympathies would not have an impact on his civil service duties, McDowall swiftly retrained the minister. Effective public relations became the trademark of Whitelaw’s time in Ireland, with the close-cropped McDowall frequently mistaken for a security man.
They were exceptionally difficult times, with tit-for-tat murders, a disconnection between government and police communications, and a shortage of information. McDowall became an indispensable part of the team, ending the practice of airport press conferences every time a minister passed through; drawing government and RUC communications together; and originating the first and highly successful confidential information line, with its number carried on payslips and the side of buses. When secret talks with the IRA were leaked and a disconsolate Whitelaw considered resignation, McDowall’s advice to make an immediate parliamentary statement, while he briefed the lobby, helped defuse the issue.
