I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to participate in the debate.
The Northern Ireland Executive have designated 2012 the “our time, our place” year, because of the number of significant anniversaries and major events taking place in the Province. Given that we are nearly halfway through 2012, I think it would be useful to take stock of what has happened in Northern Ireland so far this year,
We have had some enormous successes. The Irish open golf championship was the first European tour event ever to sell out completely—in this instance, for all four days of the competition. It was a fantastic occasion, despite the weather, which did its best to dampen spirits. We have also experienced the build-up to the Olympics. I am pleased that Northern Ireland is providing training venues for the Chinese male and female gymnastics teams and the Cuban boxers, among others. A few years ago it would have been unthinkable for those teams to stay in Northern Ireland to train, so that is a sign of the great progress the Province has made.
This year was also the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, which was marked by the opening of the iconic Titanic Experience building in Belfast, which is already attracting visitors whose number massively exceeds that predicted. The great news is that two thirds of the visitors are “out of state”—an encouraging sign for the sustainability of this major new tourist project. Belfast has again stamped its mark on the Titanic name, which is important given the association of that great ship with the city where it was built.
Her Majesty’s visit to Northern Ireland on 26 and 27 June was an enormous success. A great deal of attention was paid to the famous handshake between the Deputy First Minister and Her Majesty. I for one was delighted that Her Majesty was able to come to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and that the Deputy First Minister was presented to her as part of the jubilee tour. That too is a sign of the enormous progress we have made. Her Majesty has been to Northern Ireland 20 times during her reign, but the fact that on this occasion she was able to proceed through part of Belfast in an open-top vehicle in the presence of 20,000 members of the public shows just how far the Province has come.
Later this year, we shall mark the centenary of the signing of the Ulster covenant on 28 September. Back in 1912, 500,000 people signed the covenant enabling Ulster to remain part of the United Kingdom, in opposition to the third Home Rule Bill. It is often forgotten that, two years later, more than 2 million people in Britain signed a similar covenant. We look forward to those events later in the year.
Next year, we shall celebrate Londonderry’s becoming the UK City of Culture, and the world police and fire games will come to Belfast. We have very good things to look forward to as we continue to make progress with the political stability that now exists at Stormont. However, we must also confront challenges and difficulties, one of which is facing up to the events of the past. This Saturday, 21 July, marks the 40th anniversary of the Bloody Friday bombings in Belfast. We have heard a lot this year about the Bloody Sunday 40th anniversary, but it is often forgotten that just a few months later some of the worst atrocities ever carried out by the IRA took place, when 22 bombs were set off in Belfast city centre in an 18-minute period, killing nine people and injuring 130, including 77 women and children. Many of those victims and their families still bear the mental and physical scars to this day. We must never forget to honour the memory of those victims, and, indeed, all the victims in Northern Ireland. Justice demands that those who know about what happened in those events—we know, for instance, that Gerry Adams was commanding officer of the IRA in Belfast at that time—should come forward even now and tell the victims and society at large what they know, in order to provide closure and truth for the victims.
In recent days, the Orangefest took place on and around 12 July. There were many Orange parades throughout the Province. Almost all of them passed off entirely peacefully, but there was orchestrated violence aimed at the police—include gunshots—by republican dissidents in Ardoyne in my constituency. Some people simply do not want peace; they do not want a resolution to any of the problems we face. There have been attacks on Orange halls at Greencastle and Clifton street in my
constituency and at Glenavy in County Antrim. The fact is, however, that the people of Northern Ireland want to move forward. They do not want to be held back by this tiny minority of dissidents who are opposed to the peace process and political stability.