Northern Ireland (St. Andrews Agreement) (No. 2) Bill

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate briefly in this debate. I want to start by congratulating the Prime Minister on his dogged determination in sticking with the peace process in Northern Ireland and the Secretary of State on the sensitive way in which he has applied himself to resolving some of the outstanding difficulties in Northern Ireland. However, I would say to the Secretary of State and his ministerial team that they might still have some way to go in explaining to the younger generation how we ended up with the meeting that took place yesterday. My teenage daughter, who was born in Northern Ireland, wanted to know why, if all it took to get devolution in Northern Ireland was to threaten to send out water rates bills, it had not been done many years ago. Of course, we all know that it is much more difficult and complex than that. That is why I pay my main tributes to the right hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) and to the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Adams) for the truly extraordinary meeting that happened yesterday. I congratulate them not only because the meeting took place—it was certainly an historic event in itself—but because of the measured and careful language that they used in the statement that was given to the press. Great care was taken to acknowledge each other’s histories and the positions that they had come from. I very much pay tribute to them for doing that, because it gave all of us, particularly those of us who grew up in Northern Ireland and were used to hearing very different language, hope that things might be different, and better, in future. I suspect that when the Assembly is up and running, comments will not always be so measured. However, it is good that the difficulties of Northern Ireland will be played out across a chamber, with disputes settled through political discourse, not through violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. That is what we all hope will happen. As a frequent visitor to Northern Ireland to see my family and friends, I know that there is enormous thirst, particularly among the younger generation, for things to change there. They want real leadership from their politicians, and they saw that yesterday. They want to grow up in a country where decisions about Northern Ireland are made in Northern Ireland, particularly about bread and butter issues. Perhaps more than most people here, I am aware of the difficult road that Members in all parts of the Chamber have travelled to get to yesterday’s meeting. Most of us in Northern Ireland have lost relatives and friends. It is very hard to put that anxiety and grief behind us and move forward, but we all know that it has to be done if Northern Ireland is to have the prosperous and peaceful future that we all want to see. Again, I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for North Antrim and to the hon. Member for Belfast, West, because theirs is an extraordinary journey. I hope that they bring other people with them on that journey so that people in Northern Ireland can have their devolved Assembly and a peaceful future.