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

May I say what a constructive debate we have had? There is a rare and bold spirit of optimism in the House this afternoon. All my life, Northern Ireland has meant pain and suffering. All my adult life, Northern Ireland has meant bombs, bullets, death and destruction. Those have been the images for people not just in Northern Ireland but throughout Great Britain and the world. My hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Mr. Hall) gave us a stark reminder that that pain and suffering was not just confined to Northern Ireland but has spread throughout the United Kingdom and the world. Soldiers from my constituency have died serving their country in Northern Ireland. All my life, devolution has been a stop-start process, with Parliament buildings lying empty, Members elected to do jobs that they could not do, and Members of Parliament and Assembly Members not fulfilling their tasks. In the Northern Ireland that I have come to know over the two years for which I have had the honour of having this post, those painful legacies still exist, and the difficult challenges of the past still reverberate. The experiences of those such as the hon. Members for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea) and for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr. Wallace) are still living memories for people, every day of the week, and every week of the year. But the Northern Ireland that I have come to know is also one that yearns for peace, prosperity and a stable future for all its people. The generosity of spirit and outlook that I and my ministerial colleagues have experienced, and the wish for local politics to work, through the difficult decisions that we have had to take, have kept us in touch with the true aspirations of the people of Northern Ireland. The economic promise, friendship and tourism, and the cities of Londonderry and Belfast, which are on the move, are products of the peace brought by hard-won bargaining and stances from all sides, and by brave actions from brave politicians on all sides. As right hon. and hon. Members have recognised throughout today, this has been a historic week for Northern Ireland. I pay particular tribute to the right hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) and, as Members have done, to the Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Adams), for working together to take on the challenges of the future, while not failing to recognise the difficulties of the past, or the fundamental differences in their political outlooks. The right hon. Member for North Antrim referred to a star of hope. We now have that hope in Northern Ireland, but I and my right hon. and hon. Friends wish and believe that the Bill will not just see hope for future, but the beginning of a new dawn for the people of Northern Ireland, in which the past is not forgotten but individuals can work together for the good of all in Northern Ireland and for a strong future, and in which their traditions and loyalties, whether to the Crown or a united Ireland, are recognised, but they work together, in peace and prosperity, for the people of Northern Ireland. At last, Northern Ireland will see local politicians from all sides exercise their mandates to represent fully the people who elected them into government on 7 March. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, all direct rule Ministers and I are acutely aware that we do not have electoral roots or community contacts in Northern Ireland. We have not been able to work as local politicians could in Northern Ireland.