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Category: Northern Ireland

  • Jeffrey Donaldson – 2022 Comments on the Irish Common Travel Area

    Jeffrey Donaldson – 2022 Comments on the Irish Common Travel Area

    The comments made by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the Leader of the DUP, on 6 December 2022.

    On 6th December 1922 the Common Travel Area came into being. It is so ingrained as part of life across these islands that we can sometimes overlook its significance. The House of Commons library estimated that the number of people living in the UK who were born in the Republic of Ireland is equivalent to around 1% of the Republic’s population. There are just over a quarter of a million people born in the UK and resident in the Republic.

    The Common Travel Area was a sensible and practical arrangement established between the United Kingdom and the then newly formed Irish Free State. It has worked to the benefit of both countries over the past 100 years and enjoys the support of people in both jurisdictions. This stands in stark contrast to the Northern Ireland Protocol which has not only failed in its objectives but also does not enjoy support across the community in Northern Ireland.

    The Common Travel Area long pre-dated the entry of either the UK or Ireland to the European Union. Whilst the Common Travel Area has been based on a concept designed to facilitate everyone, the Protocol has been based on punitive measures imposed against the UK under the cover of rhetoric about the Belfast Agreement. On this centenary we should return to the positive and practical principles demonstrated by the Common Travel Area and seek to emulate them in finding a solution to the Protocol.

  • Quentin Davies – 2001 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Quentin Davies – 2001 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Quentin Davies, the then Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, at the Conservative Party Conference held in Blackpool on 10 October 2001.

    The words courage, vision and leadership are often overused in politics. But not so in David Trimble’s case they are entirely justified.

    Nobody has done more to try and bring together a community scarred by thirty years of terrorism or, in David’s own words, to build a Northern Ireland at ease with itself.

    Once again this morning, David Trimble restated the central Unionist case with clarity and precision.

    It is a case that we Conservatives, as a Unionist Party, support.

    Our two parties have always shared a great deal in common.

    Above all we are united in our commitment to the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

    Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom is based on consent – the consent of the people who live there.

    We will always uphold the democratic wishes of the people of Northern Ireland.

    And we will never allow the future of Northern Ireland to be determined by violence.

    In Northern Ireland, just like anywhere else in the world, terrorism must never be allowed to succeed, and democracy must always triumph.

    Over the last four weeks the whole world has been forced to face up to the reality of terrorism. We have seen its hideous face in this country before. Our own Party bears the scars.

    We will never forget Brighton and those who died and were maimed there. We will never forget the murders of Airey Neave and Ian Gow, and the many bombings of our cities.

    But the people of Northern Ireland have lived with terrorism – never knowing whether a parked car might contain a bomb, or their own house might be the next one to be firebombed – day in day out for thirty years. 3,600 murdered and 40,000 wounded.

    It is an appalling story. Yet one in which the Royal Ulster Constabulary, supported by the Army in Northern Ireland, where our own leader served, have played an heroic role.

    In coming to this afresh, as Iain Duncan Smith has asked me to do, I desperately want this era in Northern Ireland to be at an end.

    The Belfast Agreement held out that hope. Many people had to swallow hard. I expressed at the time my personal revulsion at the premature release of serious criminals – including murderers and multiple murderers. It was the politicisation of justice. But it had a purpose, if the parties to the Agreement kept their word, in spirit, as well as deed.

    The Irish Republic did. They changed their constitution. The British Parliament did, it legislated for devolved government including both sections of the community sharing power. The Ulster Unionist Party did, it was prepared to share government with Sinn Fein, the political representatives of men and women who had pursued their political objectives by murder and terror.

    For that remarkable sacrifice the world has properly saluted David Trimble with the Nobel Peace Prize.

    But this was an Agreement with many parts. And while prisoners convicted of terrorist offences were to be released within two years, so was decommissioning of illegal weapons to be completed within two years.

    As we know, all the prisoners were released within the 2 years. And now more than 3½ years have passed and not a single weapon or ounce of explosive has been decommissioned by Sinn Fein-IRA. All we have had from Sinn Fein-IRA have been vague statements and empty promises sometimes cynically made before important meetings and then withdrawn thereafter. Sinn Fein-IRA has been playing a cat and mouse game with the Government, and there is very little doubt in anyone’s eyes in Northern Ireland, who is the cat and who is the mouse.

    It is hardly surprising that there is now a crisis in the institutions in Belfast when all the parties have fulfilled their obligations under the Agreement except Sinn Fein. And the Government has not taken any action to sanction them.

    Why did the Government decide to release all the prisoners without even a start being made on decommissioning? They had no need to do so under the Agreement. We tried to link the two in amendments we tabled in the House of Commons to the Northern Ireland Sentences Bill in 1998. The Government rejected these.

    Whatever it was that possessed them it was the most colossal mistake. The result is that as the crunch time comes for the Assembly and for the Executive, created by the Belfast Agreement, the Government have no instruments of leverage left – either with Sinn Fein IRA or with so-called Loyalist paramilitary groups.

    The Secretary of State the weekend before last threatened the UDA with being “specified”. Unfortunately being specified means absolutely nothing. It does not enable the authorities to do a single thing they could not do anyway. That is utterly unsatisfactory.

    We must be as clear and resolute in tackling terrorism at home as abroad.

    We simply cannot have two sets of rules – one for terrorism at home and one for terrorism abroad. And let me say that we reject with contempt the characteristic hypocrisy of Gerry Adams who said in Dublin 10 days ago that terrorism was ethically indefensible but that the IRA were freedom fighters. In a democracy that distinction does not exist. And Northern Ireland is a democracy.

    What then should we now do? Is it time to reconsider the Belfast Agreement?

    I believe the answer is “no”. The Agreement as signed remains the only framework for peace that is actually or likely to be available to us. We should try, even at this eleventh hour, to make it work.

    The Government have gratuitously given away their most valuable card. They cannot now get it back. But we should insist on three things. First, no more concessions whatever – least of all on policing or security – until there is real and verified decommissioning.

    The suggestion in the negotiations at Weston Park that there should be further concessions, including allowing those with terrorist convictions to sit on district police boards, must be utterly rejected.

    Second, the Government must use to the very full all the new powers they have promised to ask Parliament for and the European Union’s new anti-terrorist measures to counter international terrorism, to cut off funds, and otherwise sanction, any organisation promoting violence in this country.

    Third, we must prevail on our friends abroad, including in the US, to treat terrorist threats to us in exactly the same way as we are treating terrorist threats to them. And if terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland, and the political parties that support them, do not decommission, every travel facility, every opportunity to raise money, every chance to present themselves falsely as good citizens or as a peaceful democratic party must be closed off to them.

    And that must include NORAID.

    Ladies and gentlemen, we find ourselves once again, as our forbears and predecessors did several times in the twentieth century, in 1914 to 1918, in 1939 to 1945 or in the crises of the Cold War, facing the threat of organised evil, of a threat to our very civilisation, on an international scale.

    Once again, as then, the Conservative Party will show the way, in quiet but unbreakable resolution, in instinctive patriotism, in firm solidarity with our friends and allies in America, the rest of Europe and around the world. And once again, whatever the sacrifices and difficulties we may face along the way, that spirit will ultimately prevail.

  • David Trimble – 2001 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    David Trimble – 2001 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by David Trimble, the then Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, to Conservative Party Conference on 10 October 2001.

    May I thank you for the invitation to speak here today. I have always wanted to see Ulster Unionism closer to the heart of British politics. Today will mark a further step in that direction. I am also glad to see this invitation has been noticed elsewhere. I happened to be in Downing Street last week and someone said to me, “I see you’re addressing the Tory Conference.” I said that it was nothing odd, after all he had a guest at his. Indeed I remarked that his guest Gerhard Schroeder said he had come to the Labour conference as part of his quest to unite Europe. My object today, however, is much more modest.

    Obviously we meet at a very special time. May I say how proud I am at the contribution Britain is making at the moment. The attack on the World Trade Center was the greatest terrorist attack on the British people since the defeat of Hitler. It affected people from all parts of the British Isles – at least three of the dead came from Northern Ireland. We all know there may be greater challenges ahead for our armed forces and indeed for society here in Britain and our thoughts and prayers are with our servicemen and all those who protect us at home or abroad.

    But the Government today is doing precisely what we would want and expect a British government to do and it will be supported.

    In a situation like this we know the need to act and act decisively even though, inescapably, one must act on imperfect information producing results that may fall short of the ideal.

    But if I can digress, Britain and America find it easier to act because they have governments capable of taking decisions. The hesitant and sometimes uncertain responses of our European partners are because in most cases they are governed by coalitions. Inevitably they are less capable of quick and resolute decision. And, of course, coalitions are the inevitable consequence of proportional representation. I have had experience of more than one form of proportional representation. But I must resist the temptation of telling you of the drawbacks of PR.

    But if the response to Bin laden and the Taleban is clear-cut, unfortunately at home in Northern Ireland, the position is not so clear. The problem is uncertainty and the Government’s reluctance to grasp the nettle.

    I still think John Major was right when he began the process. Whatever one might think of the character of those involved in terrorism, if they were saying that they were prepared to turn their back on terrorism and embrace peace and democracy, then, if only for the sake of the people who identified with them politically, it was right to explore the chance of peaceful evolution.

    The problem is that the terrorists have tried to have it both ways – the ballot box and the armalite. They have delayed a clear and unequivocal commitment to peace.

    We can all go back over the last few years and say we would have done this or that differently. But the point today is that I and my party are now bringing matters to a head in order to force Sinn Fein and the IRA to decide. We are not doing this cynically to exploit the mood after 11 September. We have been steadily, patiently, building the pressure since last October. On Monday we took the final steps, which will result, by about today week, in the resignation of the Unionist Ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive. This will be shortly followed by the removal therefrom of the Sinn Fein Ministers until they prove by decommissioning that they have left violence behind.

    We have waited a long time – three and a half years since the Agreement – seventeen months since the IRA itself promised to put their weapons beyond use. If they are ever going to do it, it must be now. If they do, fine. Then the new institutions will bed down. If they do not it will be clear that we must change the institutions so they can survive Sinn Fein’s failure. There may be reluctance to make those changes, but the need will be inescapable.

    Either way I look forward to greater certainty and stability in Northern Ireland. But Northern Ireland does not exist in isolation. It is part of the United Kingdom. There is a wider context, which we should consider.

    So it is natural to consider our relationship with national politics. Because I am here, some have speculated that I am going to talk about future links between Conservatives and Ulster Unionists. And of course there was for a long time a structural relationship between our parties and there is a strong continuing friendship. But this is too big an issue to be approached simply in a sectional way. I would prefer to reflect first more broadly.

    There is a communal aspect to party structures in Ulster. This has some unfortunate consequences. Some who do not want a united Ireland will vote nationalist out of a perceived need for communal solidarity. On the other hand some opt out of politics completely because they dislike the communal background of most parties. Most Ulster Unionists would think of themselves as small “c” conservatives. But some would identify more with labour and are Unionist for communal reasons.

    Once it was different. In the nineteenth century, both the Liberal and Conservative parties organized throughout Ireland. In the early twentieth Labour too organized there. But in response to Irish nationalism those involved in those parties coalesced to form Ulster Unionism. It was understandable and for decades it gave us stability. But it has this disadvantage – politics in Northern Ireland are based on a nationalist framework of reference. Parties are based on the fundamental issue of whether they are for or against a united Ireland.

    Compare Scotland. Parties there are based on a British framework of reference. The major British parties are there providing to the Scottish people the full range of British politics and then, alongside them there is a Scottish nationalist party. To a British person who wants to see and take part in British politics, the Scottish model is preferable to that we have in Northern Ireland.

    To its credit the Conservative Party has recognized this. Moreover it is important that the decision in the late 80s to organize in Northern Ireland was taken in response to pressure from the grassroots of the party. They felt, rightly, that some of the party’s policies on Northern Ireland were wrong, and they wanted to send a message of sympathy to the British people of Ulster.

    But a move by Conservatives alone could not break the mold. If things are to change, if we are to move from a Irish nationalist to a British pluralist basis of politics, then we need two things.

    First all the national parties must move. I am sure that this party will do its bit. The problem is Labour. It too must be prepared to move. There is an element in Labour sympathetic to Irish nationalism who have resisted this. But they must realise that, with the acceptance by the Irish government and by all the Irish nationalist parties of the consent principle, their attitudes must change.

    If Tony Blair was right when, on his first visit to Ulster as Prime Minister in May 1997, he said to some primary school children, that there would not be a United Ireland in their lifetime, then Labour has a duty to provide political opportunities for those children throughout their lives. And Labour members with Irish nationalist sympathies should remember the considerable contribution to the positive development of community relations in Scotland that resulted from Wheatley’s decision to take the Irish nationalist organization in Scotland into the Labour party there.

    The second thing concerns the party politics in Northern Ireland. Clearly it will be radically affected. I know there will be many in all parties, my own included who will be cautious. And we will not want to give up our capacity to exercise our own judgment on local issues. Moreover it is not until there is a sense of stability, a sense that Ulster’s place within the Union is secure, that the Assembly and the new arrangements have bedded – not until all that is settled will folk focus fully on these wider issues.

    But I am sure that they will want to address these wider issues. I am sure that the basic concepts of the Agreement are sound – the consent principle to settle the constitutional issue – a regional assembly to give democratic accountability on local issues – an Irish dimension to acknowledge the identity of nationalists.

    But more is needed. The Assembly is limited. It has to operate within the context of the overall economic and social policy of the national government. If the Assembly is all there is the people will not fell that they are properly involved in politics. Taxation, expenditure, defence, foreign policy, are still determined in London. Unless there is a sense of involvement and accountability on those issues, the electorate in Northern Ireland will not be satisfied.

    This problem does not exist with regard to Scotland and Wales. There the people can vote for the national parties who decide these matters. I do not think we will have a healthy political system until the people of Northern Ireland have a similar opportunity to “turn the rascals out”. And it is in the interests of the people of Great Britain, and in the interests of the people of the Republic of Ireland to encourage the development of healthier politics in Northern Ireland.

    There is another aspect too. The present structures prevent a person in Northern Ireland participating in British national politics. The last two governments contained Ministers from Northern Ireland. But Sir Brian Mawhinney and Kate Hoey had to leave Northern Ireland in order to be able to participate.

    It reminds me of the comparison between Belfast and Bangkok. The question is what can you do in Bangkok that you cannot do in Belfast? The answer of course is join the Labour party. Northern Ireland is the only place on the globe where you cannot join Labour. It is a civil rights issue.

    This is not something that is going to change overnight. It is not on the agenda today. But it is something we should think about. It will probably be on tomorrow’s agenda. It is right that it should for in a sense it is just filling in the British dimension to the Agreement. When the time comes I believe this party will be ready. I hope mine will be. Together I think we can meet the need. The real challenge, however, is for New Labour and Tony Blair.

    Mr. Blair made a good beginning on Northern Ireland. That May 1997 speech was sound on the basic principles. Without him there would not have been an Agreement in April 1998.

    But then came the implementation. Understandably he left much of that to others. To an extent he took his eye off the ball. Expediency slithered into appeasement. Confidence in the Agreement ebbed as people felt that the concessions were all one way.

    But there is the chance now to recover – indeed to fulfill the original promise. The paramilitaries can be faced down – the Assembly stabilized.

    And by moving forward with this party he could offer a range of political alternatives to the people of Ulster.

    It is often said that we are the prisoners of history.

    But the key on outside.

    Mr. Blair it is time to turn it.

    Time to treat the people of Northern Ireland as fully part of the United Kingdom.

  • Mary Lou McDonald – 2022 Speech Welcoming the European Commission President von der Leyen in Oireachtas Address

    Mary Lou McDonald – 2022 Speech Welcoming the European Commission President von der Leyen in Oireachtas Address

    The speech made by Mary Lou McDonald, the President of Sinn Fein, in the Irish Parliament on 1 December 2022.

    Ireland is a proud European nation.

    In the New Year, we will mark fifty years since Ireland became a member of what was then the European Communities in 1973.

    Since then, it has been a journey.

    There have been many positive advances in areas like equality, workers’ rights and environmental standards and challenges in terms of growing militarisation, deregulation and privatisation.

    But on this journey solidarity, fairness and a conviction that we can be strongest when we work together – to make a real, positive difference to people’s lives- has guided our greatest successes.

    I warmly welcome European Commission President von der Leyen here today.

    Through your work on the Commission you have been a good friend to Ireland and demonstrated your desire to work with Ireland towards these common goals.

    This year, Europe has shown the power of its unity and its solidarity in standing squarely with the people of Ukraine.

    Vladimir Putin’s barbaric invasion has shocked the world.

    His illegal and unjust war must be stopped and the horror of the bloodshed end.

    In this time of crisis, Europe has come together in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they endure and resist this grotesque war.

    This solidarity has sent a powerful message to Putin that Ukraine is not alone— that Europe will stand up for what is right.

    Recent years have also shown Ireland the importance of European solidarity as we weather the storm of Brexit.

    There is no such thing as a good Brexit for Ireland.

    The people of the north voted to Remain in the EU, but were dragged out against their will by Britain- spearheaded by the Tories at the DUP’s urging.

    Throughout those years of fractious negotiations, the EU stood steadfast with Ireland and our determination to protect the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, a peace agreement which will be 25 years old next year and has transformed our island and showed that conflict can end and peace can triumph.

    Prior to the Good Friday Agreement, British army checkpoints marked the border.

    British military installations, built and reinforced from the 1970s onwards, were symbols of division and conflict.

    The invisible border on the island of Ireland has now become the greatest symbol of peace.

    There can never be any return to the hard border in Ireland and I welcome your forceful assertion of that reality here today, President.

    It’s important to acknowledge that the Good Friday Agreement is a diplomatic success not just for Ireland but also the European Union and for that we commend you and we thank you.

    The European Union has been a critical partner for peace, providing political and financial support leading to greater economic and social progress on an all-island basis.

    I think it is particularly important to thank Michel Barnier and Maroš Šefčovič and their teams for their determination to hold steady on these crucial issues and defending peace and progress in Ireland.

    The EU’s solidarity remains essential as we continue to address the fall out of Brexit.

    Currently, the institutions in the north of our country lie dormant as the DUP continue their shameful boycott.

    Workers and families in the north pay the price of not having an Executive to work hard for them to deliver for them in the current cost of living crisis.

    It bears repeating that the Protocol is working and is necessary to protect the north from the damages of Brexit. It is supported by democratically elected representatives in the north and indeed across Ireland.

    While issues around the implementation of the Protocol exist, they can be resolved through good faith engagement.

    We must see calm and clear leadership from those at the negotiating table.

    We listened to the words of the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that he is committed to restoring the political institutions and resolving issues around the implementation of the Protocol.

    His words are welcome but they need to be matched by action and meaningful talks between the British government and the European Commission.

    I know it is your fervent desire to engage constructively.

    This is what’s needed, not sabre rattling and no more threats to breach international law.

    The reality is that Ireland is changing and Brexit is responsible for some of that change.

    It was a very significant decision by the EU to state from the start of Brexit  – to our then Taoiseach Enda Kenny – that in the event of Irish reunification the north will automatically rejoin the European Union and the north’s citizens can become EU citizens once again.

    This is a very important statement recognising that the Good Friday Agreement set out the next step on Ireland’s journey – the ending of partition and the holding of referenda on reunification.

    The responsible thing for all of us to do now is to prepare for democratically, orderly, planned constitutional change.

    Just as the Commission played a key role in the peace process, I believe that the EU can play a positive role in the last length of the journey to Irish reunification, and a United Ireland within the European Union.

    We want to see the bridging of the gap on the democratic deficit.

    We want to see advances on workers’ rights, environmental protections, social justice, ethical trade, sustainable trade, research and developments, all areas in which we can make progress.

    That will challenge the European Union but we must rise to that challenge.

    The climate emergency is one of the biggest challenges facing our planet.

    As we in Ireland work to secure a better, greener future for younger generations, we know that this solidarity is crucial in delivering the major changes that area needed to secure truly meaningful impact.

    Through working together on these issues, we can deliver tangible and lasting change to our citizens’ lives.

    That is our vision for Europe.

    We are an island nation, at once on the periphery of Europe and at its heart.

    Our vision also recognises Ireland as a proudly neutral state.  To be Irish is to be from a small island, but it is also to be part of a powerful global family.

    We are somewhat of an outlier as an EU state in that we were the colonised and not the coloniser.

    We have seen conflict, we have seen partition and we have seen occupation.

    Speaking in this Chamber 35 years ago Australian former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke described this well when he said:

    “Ireland is the head of a huge empire in which Australia and the United States are the principal provinces. It is an empire acquired not by force of Irish arms but by force of Irish character, an empire not of political coercion but of spiritual affiliation, created by the thousands upon thousands of Irish men and women who chose to leave their shores, or who were banished from them, to help in the building of new societies over the years.”

    In an increasingly complex world in which our multilateral institutions must work, the presence of military neutrals and non-aligns can be a critical interlocutor in the work for peace, disarmament and social justice.

    I would go further.

    The next step is the recognition and acknowledgement of military neutrals and non-aligns within EU treaties, and of course here in Ireland.

    This would be a hugely positive step forward and would add to the diplomatic repertoire and scope of Europe.

    No doubt that there are many challenges facing Europe, but our shared commitments and values show what can be achieved through solidarity and a resolve to improve our citizens’ lives.

    We remain committed to working with our European friends on these issues as we work for a better life for all our people.

    We stand at a crossroads.

    The future of Europe can be one of retreat or one of hopeful progress. We must choose progress.

    A future in which citizens are disillusioned or empowered.

    A future of opportunities for the few at the top or a future of opportunity and prosperity for all.

    Now is the time, to look forward to the future, with ambition and hope.

    By working together, we can build a new Ireland and re-invigorate the vision of Europe as a beacon of fairness, solidarity, and equality.

    We believe we can make Ireland better, we believe we can make Europe better and by working together we can make the world better too.

  • Quentin Davies – 2001 Speech to the Ulster Unionist Party Conference

    Quentin Davies – 2001 Speech to the Ulster Unionist Party Conference

    The speech made by Quentin Davies, the then Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in Belfast on 17 November 2001. This is the edited version released to the media.

    If one thing above all has struck me in the two months I have been doing this job it is the anxiety, the pessimism – I do not think it too much to say the despondency – of much of the Unionist community.

    So many people have said to me that they feel that things have moved inexorably against them, that the Peace Process has been a one-way street and that even a single IRA act of decommissioning does not change that.

    There is a very widespread impulse to discount any good news and – most painful of all for anyone who comes from England – a sense of betrayal – a feeling that their fellow citizens in the rest of the United Kingdom do not even regard them as such, and want nothing so much as to get shot of them as soon as possible.

    I am well aware that it is not the first time that such sentiments have been expressed in Ulster. I was struck by a passage in Thomas Hennessy’s excellent ‘History of Northern Ireland’, which I was reading the other day, in which Sir Richard Dawson Bates, then Minister for Home Affairs in Northern Ireland, said in 1938:

    ‘So long as we live, there will always be the danger of Home Rule or merging into the Free State. We will never get rid of it. One has only to go to England to see the extraordinary apathy towards us by people who should be our friends. We do not understand this apathy in England towards us …’

    If these sentiments have existed before, they have now returned with a vengeance. The thing that has caused me more pain than, I think, any other political comment that has ever been addressed to me, has been to be told several times that of course I care fundamentally much more about bombs in London or Birmingham, about blood being shed in England than about blood shed here.

    Well let me use this opportunity today to say with all the sincerity and conviction of which I am capable, that in my eyes Northern Ireland is in every sense just as much as part of our country as London or Lincolnshire where I come from, its inhabitants are every bit as precious to me and my colleagues and our responsibility for them is exactly and precisely the same.

    I know very well that it is not verbal analysis that will reassure people, it is only our deeds.

    So let me give you this commitment.

    Everything we do or say as the major Opposition party will be designed, whether directly or indirectly by exerting influence on the Government, to ensure that Northern Ireland can be, can continue to be, and can feel, a respected, a valued, and an equal part of the United Kingdom, and I hope increasingly a normalised and a prosperous part of our Kingdom.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2022 Statement on the Fifth Substantive Report from the Independent Reporting Commission

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2022 Statement on the Fifth Substantive Report from the Independent Reporting Commission

    The statement made by Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in the House of Commons on 7 December 2022.

    I have received the fifth substantive report from the Independent Reporting Commission.

    The commission was established following the Fresh Start agreement of November 2015 to report on progress towards ending paramilitary activity. That agreement set out the Northern Ireland Executive’s commitments around tackling paramilitary activity and associated criminality, and led to a programme of work to deliver a Northern Ireland Executive action plan. It also provided the framework for the UK Government, the Executive and law enforcement agencies, working with partners in Ireland, to work together to tackle the challenges of organised crime, paramilitarism and terrorism. In the New Decade, New Approach agreement in January 2020, a commitment was made to ongoing work to tackle paramilitarism, and this work continues, including through a second phase of the Northern Ireland Executive programme.

    This fifth substantive report builds on the work already undertaken by the commissioners. I welcome the progress it highlights in a number of areas, including disruptions to paramilitary groups as a result of operations by the paramilitary crime taskforce, the downward trend in some aspects of paramilitary activity demonstrated by Police Service of Northern Ireland security statistics, and the reduction in the Northern Ireland-related terrorism threat level from severe to substantial. I also welcome the success and positive impact, noted by the commissioners, that the programme for tackling paramilitary activity, criminality and organised crime is having through its focus on the development of a whole of Government approach, and joined-up and integrated working across the public, community and voluntary sectors, and through its emphasis on interventions informed by strong evidence and data.

    Yet the report also notes that the problem of paramilitarism is enduring. The criminal activity and coercive control exercised by paramilitary groups continue to cause harm to communities and individuals across Northern Ireland. A number of incidents in recent weeks have demonstrated the callous disregard that paramilitary groups, or those who claim affiliation with them, have for public safety, and the harm and disruption they continue to cause to the communities they often claim to represent.

    The commissioners have set out a number of recommendations on how the effort to tackle paramilitarism can be enhanced, including a recommendation for the UK Government, and others, on the need for a formal process of engagement with paramilitary groups aimed at facilitating their transition towards disbandment. We will continue to consider this recommendation through engagement with representatives of Northern Ireland political parties, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Irish Government, with civic society and community representatives in Northern Ireland, and with the Independent Reporting Commission.

    Paramilitarism was never justified in the past and cannot be justified today. As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, it is important that we remind ourselves of the extraordinary progress that has been made since then on peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland. Yet it is clear that a sustained effort is required here over the long term to tackle the enduring problem of paramilitarism. We remain committed to delivering our vision of a safer Northern Ireland and to working with partners to support efforts against the enduring threat and harms posed to communities by terrorist and paramilitary groups.

    Political leadership from across the political spectrum in Northern Ireland is essential to ensure it remains clear that there is no place for paramilitarism, or the division it stems from, in Northern Ireland. It is a matter of profound disappointment that the local political parties have been unable to restore fully functioning devolved institutions. The lack of a functioning Executive inhibits Northern Ireland Departments from taking a strategic, cross-cutting approach to tackling paramilitarism in partnership with the PSNI and the wider public sector. It remains my top priority to rectify the present situation.

    Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the commissioners for their continued work reporting on progress towards ending paramilitarism.

  • Chris Heaton-Harris – 2022 Comments on Reducing Pay of MLAs

    Chris Heaton-Harris – 2022 Comments on Reducing Pay of MLAs

    The comments made by Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on 7 December 2022.

    For over 200 days MLAs have been receiving full pay while failing to fulfil the full duties they were elected to do. Reducing their pay until an Assembly is restored reflects the work they are currently carrying out.

    This pay reduction is a necessary step when the people of Northern Ireland are tackling significant cost of living challenges and, after long-term mishandling of the NI public finances [by NI ministers] that has left a staggering £660m black hole, further protecting public finances.

    I urge Northern Ireland’s parties to use the time that this Act allows to work together and return to their full roles in a devolved government so that they can better serve the people of Northern Ireland.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Solving Problems with Northern Ireland Protocol

    Kevin Brennan – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Solving Problems with Northern Ireland Protocol

    The parliamentary question asked by Kevin Brennan, the Labour for Cardiff West, in the House of Commons on 17 November 2022.

    Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)

    On Northern Ireland, it is reported today in The Times that the Prime Minister promised President Biden that the issues surrounding the Northern Ireland protocol would be solved by next April. Did he give that commitment to President Biden? The people of Northern Ireland face a long hard winter without a Government in place there, so should there not be a greater sense of urgency from the UK Government to sort it out?

    The Prime Minister

    As I have said publicly and clearly, I want to see a resolution to this issue as soon as possible. That is why I spoke to my counterparts in Ireland and the European Commission, and others, on almost the first day I took office. I am working very hard to try to bring about a negotiated settlement to the challenges we face, but those challenges on the ground are real: businesses, families and communities are suffering as a result of the protocol. I have made that point loudly and clearly to all our counterparts, and I have urged them to show flexibility and pragmatism in their response so that we can get the situation resolved on the ground and get the Executive back up and running, because that is what the people of Northern Ireland deserve.

  • Jeffrey Donaldson – 2022 Comments on Anglo-Irish Talks

    Jeffrey Donaldson – 2022 Comments on Anglo-Irish Talks

    The comments made by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the Leader of the DUP, in Coleraine on 11 November 2022.

    This problem is not new. We have been patient. We warned that the Protocol was undermining devolution more than two years ago. Yet no action was taken. Indeed, we were told there could be ‘no renegotiation’.

    Whilst the negotiations will be between London and Brussels, the talks between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom show that there is now a focus on the problem but we long for the decisive action which delivers an acceptable solution.

    Northern Ireland must have its place within the United Kingdom’s internal market restored and our constitutional position respected.

    Last year, I published the DUP’s seven tests for any renegotiation. Those tests are based on the Government’s own words. That is how we will measure any product from the talks.

    I hope we can reach a negotiated outcome which will be acceptable to unionists because that will be the only basis for Stormont’s powersharing arrangements to prosper.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2022 Speech on the Energy Price Support Payment in Northern Ireland

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2022 Speech on the Energy Price Support Payment in Northern Ireland

    The speech made by Kevin Hollinrake, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons, on 16 November 2022.

    It is a pleasure to speak with you in the Chair, Sir Gary. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Down (Stephen Farry) on securing this very important debate, and I thank the hon. Members for Strangford (Jim Shannon), for Belfast South (Claire Hanna) and for South Antrim (Paul Girvan) for their interventions. They all made important and salient points relating to the problem in Northern Ireland.

    Given the record energy prices, the Government understand the pressures being faced by households and businesses in Northern Ireland and right across the United Kingdom, and we are taking direct action to address the issue. Clearly, the crisis has been driven by Mr Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, which has caused a surge in the global price of wholesale gas, leading to an unprecedented increase in the amount that households and businesses are paying for the gas, electricity and oil they use. This has compounded already high prices in economies across the globe that are recovering from the covid-19 pandemic. The effects of the price rises are being felt up and down the country, but the Government are determined to ensure that families can provide power for their homes and that businesses can power the economy.

    Paul Girvan

    While we have been sitting here, I have taken the opportunity to check on today’s oil price. In England, people can buy a litre of 28 kerosene for 85.9986 pence, but the current price in Northern Ireland is £1.0835—a difference of 22 pence. How can we address the imbalance in transporting oil from GB to Northern Ireland? We have no refinery in Northern Ireland, and no way of dealing with it.

    Kevin Hollinrake

    The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, and I heard his comments earlier about the increased price of oil in Northern Ireland. The hon. Member for North Down spoke of the very high number of households in Northern Ireland that are off-grid, and that is extremely important. I will try to cover that point in my remarks.

    The announcements made by the Government in September demonstrated our commitment to protecting UK households and businesses through the energy price guarantee, the energy bill relief scheme and the energy bills support scheme, which is the key matter under discussion. Under the plans, households, businesses and public sector organisations across Northern Ireland will be protected from significant rises in energy bills, thanks to the Government’s support. As well as outlining the support that still needs to be delivered, I will set out what the UK Government are already delivering in Northern Ireland, and what is to follow shortly.

    The energy price guarantee in Northern Ireland launched on 1 November, offering equivalent support to that provided in Great Britain for domestic households. The scheme reduces the price that energy suppliers charge customers for units of gas and electricity, providing money off energy bills. Households will receive backdated support to cover October 2022 through a higher discounted rate. Through the EPG scheme, a typical household in Great Britain with both gas and electricity contracts will save around £700 this winter, based on current prices. Equivalent support will be provided for households in Northern Ireland.

    Government support will also be provided for households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or liquified petroleum gas instead of mains gas. The alternative fuel payment scheme will provide a one-off payment of £100 to ensure that all households that do not benefit through the energy price guarantee receive support for the cost of the fuel they use. The £100 payment has been calculated with reference to increases in the cost of heating oil between September 2021 and September 2022. The aim is to ensure that a typical customer using heating oil will be offered support that is broadly in line with that offered by the energy price guarantee for those using mains gas to heat their homes. However, I hear what hon. Members say, and we are monitoring the price of heating oil and other alternative fuels very closely, now and in the months ahead, to see whether further payments are required at a future point in time.

    Households in Great Britain that are eligible for the payments will receive £100 credit on their electricity bills this winter. For Northern Ireland, the Government are working with electricity suppliers to explore how the payment could be delivered via electricity bills under a similar delivery model. Details of when the payment will be made will be confirmed shortly—we have heard that word a number of times from Ministers at the Dispatch Box—so I cannot give the hon. Member for North Down a firm date, but we are very keen to deliver it as quickly as possible.

    Jim Shannon

    I thank the Minister for his response. In Northern Ireland, my understanding is that the proportion of those who are dependent on oil—I think the hon. Member for North Down (Stephen Farry) referred to this—is between 65% and 68%, so two thirds of the population in Northern Ireland need the payments. I hope he does not mind, but I am going to press the Minister on this. He says the payment is imminent or will be made shortly, or whatever. The people back home in my constituency—indeed, all our constituents—want it, and they want it now. The people have it here on the mainland, and we want the same.

    Kevin Hollinrake

    I totally understand that. We have to get this right. There are some complications in terms of timing, which I will set out. I wish I could give the hon. Gentleman a firm date. I get frustrated, too, in debates like this. I am slightly sitting on the fence in not giving a firm date, but I guarantee to him and other Members that the measure will be implemented as quickly as possible. I had meetings with officials earlier today. They are fully cognisant of the issue and keen to deliver quickly.

    There are a number of complications. There is no central register either in Great Britain or in Northern Ireland for people who do not use the gas grid for their heating. We are working rapidly with stakeholders on the best way to identify those who merit support. Households that are eligible but do not receive alternative fuel payments because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier will receive the £100 via the alternative fuel payment alternative fund, which will be provided by a designated body.

    Stephen Farry

    I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and for what he has said so far. May I press him on the data on customers who use home heating oil? If we take the entirety of households in Northern Ireland and subtract those currently using gas, we can use the dataset that remains and assume that they are using home heating oil. That will give the Minister 99% accuracy. Similarly, I hope the £400 energy support will come shortly. Will the Minister explain the technical issues to the people of Northern Ireland, who are slightly confused as to why it is taking so long? We appreciate that the companies in Northern Ireland are different from those in Great Britain and that there might be question marks over their viability, but, to our minds, they are well-established and secure companies, so there should not be any real doubt about their ability to deliver the Government scheme.

    Kevin Hollinrake

    I will go on to explain some of the complications. The hon. Gentleman’s points have been well made and heard by me and officials, so we will do what we can. In the discussions that I had this morning, it sounded as though there was a solution. We just need to roll it out as quickly as we can.

    The energy bill relief scheme for Northern Ireland will apply to all eligible non-domestic electricity and natural gas customers, including businesses, charities and the public sector, which receives its gas or electricity from licensed suppliers. Discounts will be automatically applied by suppliers to the energy bills of eligible customers, covering energy usage between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023. The scheme, as has been said, will run for an initial six-month period. The exact discount applied will depend on the type of contract a customer is on and when it was agreed. Although the scheme applies to energy use from 1 October, savings applied to October bills are typically received in November, which means businesses in Northern Ireland start to feel the benefits in November.

    The Government announced on 21 September that we will also provide support to non-domestic consumers who use alternative fuels in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Further information will be provided shortly. The schemes are supporting millions of households and businesses with rising energy costs, and the Chancellor made it clear that they will continue to do so from now until April next year.

    Beyond April, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor—this applies to the whole of the United Kingdom—have agreed that it would not be responsible for the Government to continue exposing the public finances to unlimited volatility in international gas prices. A Treasury-led review is considering right now how households and businesses will be supported after April 2023 and will publish its findings by January 2023. The objective is to design a new approach that will cost the taxpayer significantly less than planned while ensuring enough support for those in need. It is very important that non-domestic customers that are less likely to be considered vulnerable to energy price increases, particularly larger businesses that are not energy-intensive, use the six months we have to identify measures they can take to protect themselves against high energy prices.

    On support already received, low-income households received a cost of living payment in July of £326 and will receive another payment of £324 by 23 November. The energy bills support scheme launched in Great Britain in October provides eligible households with a discount of £400—that is the key point in front of us—that is being paid in six-monthly instalments in the UK.

    Energy policy is devolved to Northern Ireland, but the issue has now been put back to the UK Government to deal with. The hon. Member for North Down referred to the taskforce. The reason it only met twice was that its job was to determine the best way to address this issue, and it determined that the UK Government should do it. The issue is now with officials and Ministers in my Department to make sure that we deliver the scheme in a way that accounts for the differences in Northern Ireland, and we are working with suppliers to get this across the line as quickly as possible.

    Detailed work is under way to establish how suppliers can use their systems to pass funds on to consumers in a way that is consistent with the Government policy intent, while ensuring that public money is properly protected. We will of course use our experience thus far in the scheme in the rest of the United Kingdom, and we will work with the Utility Regulator in Northern Ireland to deliver the scheme.

    We have already acted to resolve one of the barriers to delivering the scheme in Northern Ireland by taking new powers in the Energy Prices Act 2022, which received Royal Assent only on 25 October. We now need to provide clarity on timings on when the scheme will be finally rolled out to households in Northern Ireland.

    Some households in Northern Ireland who do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier or a meter of their own, for example park homes, cannot receive the £400 discount directly via an electricity supplier. We will also support those households under a separate arrangement called the energy bills support scheme alternative funding.

    The Government have delivered and will continue to deliver comprehensive support for energy consumers across the United Kingdom to overcome the extraordinary challenges we are facing. We are delivering support to households and businesses in Northern Ireland through the EPG and the energy bill relief scheme already, but we fully recognise the need to provide further clarity on when these measures will be delivered to consumers in Northern Ireland and are working at significant pace to do so.

    I cannot give a firm date, but I can give the commitment that we are trying to expedite payments by every possible means. We have listened to the points made by the hon. Gentleman and others, particularly about off-grid homes, which is an issue not just in Northern Ireland but across the country, and we are working to make sure that the payments are at the right level. I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this important topic today. I will continue to work with him to try to make sure that we get the money out of the door as quickly as possible.