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Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Modification) Order 2006

I accept that that was the position at that stage. But as Northern Ireland moves back to a more stable political society and politicians are now respected, it will produce a situation where people are quite prepared for the source of the money to be divulged. It is a very small price that we in the Unionist community and the Unionist party would pay to stop the flow of money coming into Northern Ireland for political purposes simply at the behest of Sinn Fein/IRA. It does not need it because, as I understand the position, given its recent activities, it is one of the richest political organisations in western Europe. I very much support the security forces and the assets recovery agencies in South Armagh, where a great many documents have been seized from a gentleman called Slab Murphy, the chief commander of the Provisional IRA. I understand from the security forces that it will take a long time to process the papers that have been taken from his premises and other premises and which contain information about property in Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool, Blackpool, Manchester, Spain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. According to the best estimates of the security forces, it will take four years to process that information and bring people to account. I cannot see the people in the Unionist community deciding to go back into government with IRA/Sinn Fein until all the criminality has stopped and the kinds of episodes that have taken place in South Armagh are brought to a conclusion, the money repaid and the assets seized. It is interesting to note that the information seized in the South Armagh raids indicates that there may be some people in the Irish Republic and other places who will be concerned that their names appear in the documents, which also outline the recruitment activities of a Mr Philip Flynn—who at that stage was the chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland)—in putting together lists of professional people who had helped the IRA in its purchase of property throughout the island of Ireland and in the rest of Great Britain. I think Sinn Fein/IRA is under pressure. I am very pleased that the security forces have put it under pressure in the north and the south and I am very pleased that a limitation has been put on its criminality, but we have a long way to go. Unfortunately, the order we are considering today suspends any chance of devolution for only six months, if necessary. I have a feeling that we will be back here again on many occasions. I would like guidance as to whether the new rules and regulations on finance will cover the political parties in Northern Ireland. The sooner we set ourselves up as a fully democratic province, with as many rules and regulations as are common to the rest of the United Kingdom, the better.