Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 (Amnesty Period) Order 2009

My Lords, some days ago the death took place in Northern Ireland of a Presbyterian minister called the Reverend Roy Magee. Many tributes have been paid to his work in trying to influence the loyalist paramilitaries over the years, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. I had the privilege of working closely with him in the efforts that were made by many of us that produced the first loyalist ceasefire. Since then, as the noble Baroness knows, there have been many efforts to bring us to the point at which the loyalist paramilitaries would emulate the work of others and decommission. Sadly, tonight we are faced with the position that has been explained by the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, and accepted by the noble Lord, Lord Smith, that those efforts have so far failed. It is with sadness that many of us have to try to support the order tonight, because it is obvious that what has been attempted has not worked. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland must have very good reasons—not known, presumably, to many of us—for asking for this extension of an amnesty. But I plead, on behalf of many people, that it is stated clearly at the grass roots that there will be no further extension and that this is the endgame. I say to the leadership of the loyalist paramilitaries, ““Think of the Reverend Roy Magee. Think of the efforts he has made over the years to try and influence your actions. There may be a new generation of leaders in the loyalist paramilitaries from those days that I have referred to, but the message that he, I and others gave you over the years was, ‘Don’t be judged by history that you decommissioned simply by an order in Parliament or by effective means of a parliamentary order.’ Do it now because it is the right thing to do. Do it now because society in Northern Ireland is crying out for you to do this. Do it now and lift the threat of criminality from the areas in which intimidation and threats continue to dominate too many people’s lives. Join the groundswell for a peaceful future. Do it now and recover from history some credit for doing it yourselves””. The Lord President explained the mechanism that is involved, and I, too, pay tribute to the work of the international commission. However, there is much more to this question tonight than decommissioning to those of us who work within the community. There is rivalry, criminality and intimidation; there are the social disadvantages in many loyalist, Protestant areas. But there would be much more sympathy and interest if decommissioning took place—dare I use the old-fashioned word ““voluntarily””?—at this stage thus to speed the process that the order is involved in. Loyalist organisations are running out of arguments for maintaining their arms. So I say again to them, while with reluctance I support the order, ““Do it now before you’re compelled to do so””.