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

I was interested in the Secretary of State’s comments in the early part of his speech, particularly when he mentioned some slogans—Northern Ireland is famous for its slogans written on walls—such as ““Sinn Hain got the cane and Hain fell into an omelette””. Well, he did not mention that one, but I have seen it. They tell me that confession is good for the soul, and I can tell the Secretary of State—it is a pity that he is not here to listen, but I am sure his colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office will pass the information on to him and it will be recorded in Hansard—that white emulsion was used for the slogan and assure him that, at the end of the week, my colleagues and I will remove it. He may want to know who put it up, but my colleagues and I will remove it. I do not think that anyone could seriously doubt that the scenes witnessed in Northern Ireland yesterday were of huge significance. Whether they will prove to be a good piece of history or another false dawn will be judged only by time. I entered this House in 2005, and I confess to having been on a steep learning curve since then. I was present at negotiations at Leeds castle, St. Andrews and, sometimes, No. 10 Downing street. One thing that I have learned is that one cannot take anyone’s word, because one needs to see actions. At Leeds castle, a deal was close, but it did not happen—in many ways, I am thankful that it did not happen, because the Northern bank robbery took place afterwards. At St. Andrews, Sinn Fein-IRA promised that they would fulfil their commitments on policing and other issues, but they dragged their heels. They promised many things, so only time will tell whether Sinn Fein-IRA come up to the mark. My hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) and other hon. Friends have mentioned victims. I am part of the victims group in my party, and I listen to and visit a lot of victims’ organisations. When I was on the road to the airport this morning, I listened to a radio programme in which comments were made by victims, including former RUC officers, the victims of republican paramilitaries and the victims of loyalist paramilitaries. It would take a very hard individual not to be emotionally moved by some of the stories on the radio this morning—I heard men, women and young people who were literally in tears. We cannot allow ourselves to be carried away with what has taken place and to forget about the people who have been left in that state. Those people were not only victims in the past, because they are still going through torture in the present, and different acts are still carried out by different organisations in different guises. It is important that we do not forget those people. The only way devolution can work is if everyone sings off the same hymn sheet. Trust is a word that has been bandied about a lot over the years in Northern Ireland, and it is lacking in the Unionist community towards Sinn Fein. I suppose that the argument could be thrown back that it is lacking on their side of the community, too, and the only way in which we can move forward is if there is trust on both sides. My hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson) has mentioned that many DUP Members have suffered at the hands of terrorism. My hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea) has mentioned his personal circumstances, and I, too, have suffered at the hands of terrorism, which affected four members of my family. Such matters are difficult. Yesterday, a reporter who knew the background rang me and asked, ““How do you feel about this?”” I gave him a glib answer, because I did not have time to talk to him. Afterwards, however, I thought about the question, and I felt a certain amount of anger and a certain amount of sadness and emptiness. Many of my hon. Friends would say exactly the same thing, and different emotions go through one’s mind as events unfold. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim that Martin McGuinness was a terrorist last week, and as far as I am concerned, he is a terrorist today—the bottom line is that it is only through the grace of God that he can repent of that. Whatever happens after 8 May, I hope and trust that we will have stable government in Northern Ireland and that we will see a future for our children’s children. Like many of my hon. Friends, I have teenage children who are growing up, and I want to see a future for them, but we must get it right. I think that we owe it to the next generation to get it right.