Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party). It was answered on Tuesday, 1 November 2011 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.

Dealing with the Past

Question: Does the Minister agree that not only is there no consensus on how we deal with the past, but consensus is unlikely? Is it not the case that many people in Northern Ireland are concerned that the constant harping on about the past only picks at the scab and the wound that will never heal unless we, as a community, decide that our future is to discuss the future, rather than continuously going back to the past?

Answer: I know where the hon. Gentleman is coming from, but it is not realistic to imagine that we can completely draw a line and say that the past never happened, because for many people the past has been the dominating factor in their lives. There is hope. I think that the average age in Northern Ireland is now 34 or so, and for many people of that generation, the troubles do not have the same resonance as they do for people of our maturity. That does not mean that we do not owe it to those older people who lived through those troubled times to reach some kind of conclusion. We have been consistent in saying that we believe that the best way of progressing this matter and trying to reach closure for some families is through the Historical Enquiries Team. We believe that they are doing a good job and that that is the proper place to continue the work. They are more than halfway through their inquiries, and we think that that is right. We are against costly and open-ended inquiries. We have said that consistently. We do not believe that they are the way forward. Equally, we do accept that a range of people, from across the divide, want to get at the truth. That is why we must help them, in any way we can, to achieve that.

Secondary information