Northern Ireland

My Lords, with what has been said in the other place and what I have said in this House, I hope that the alarm bells on the second aspect can be switched off. There is no question whatever about any joint control or joint sovereignty, or anything like that. I cannot make it any clearer than that. From what was said and what was printed, I understand why the alarm bells rang, but they can be switched off. It may not be very productive for me to second-guess what the parties will do on 15 May. The Assembly will be recalled and a presiding officer will be chosen. The structures are there. A short Bill will set out the rules for the Assembly. Obviously, the Assembly will not mirror exactly what happened before, because we want to give it time to get a First Minister and a Deputy First Minister, if possible. If that is not possible, there will be the summer recess—a 12-week gap—before 24 November, the final date. I would not want to second-guess the situation. As I understand it—I have not been personally involved—enough discussions and talks have taken place in recent months, which culminated in the two Prime Ministers making their statements on 6 April. I do not want to second-guess the parties’ views. We have set the ball rolling to reinstate the Assembly and we have to take a positive view of that. I hope that the second aspect raised by the noble Lord can be hit on the head very severely.