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Northern Ireland Bill

It certainly would be one of the best birthday presents that I could have if we saw the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive, whereby the people of Northern Ireland could rightly be governed by themselves. The absence of that success, however, is too dire to contemplate. It is too difficult to get our political heads around that. It would mean the destruction of devolution, the continuance of direct rule and the complete collapse of the Good Friday agreement or any other agreement that sought to bring about power sharing in Northern Ireland. I wish my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, his fellow Ministers and all the parties in Northern Ireland the very best in the months ahead. We are all hoping, praying and working hard to move in the right direction for the future.