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Northern Ireland Bill

I have listened with great interest to the debate and know that all my colleagues have made valid points. I have never had the privilege or the opportunity—whatever word one wishes to use—of sitting in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I listened to the hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier), who used the word ““tantalising””. Well, when it comes to a three-course meal or a large steak—[Interruption.] Yes, I have many of them and I would probably refer to them as tantalising, but I have to say that the prospect of going into the Assembly on 15 May is not tantalising for me. It is not tantalising because I will probably be sitting across the room from an individual who gave the authority for four of my family to be assassinated. It may well be hard for hon. Members who have not experienced such circumstances to understand, but it will be very difficult for me. My party has taken the decision to go in on 15 May and I will join it because I believe that it has a lot to offer the people of Northern Ireland. We all know about the other Unionist party and its leadership, which led the Unionist population in the wrong direction. I am living proof that the Unionist population does not suffer fools gladly, which is why I took the seat in Upper Bann. We often hear the old cliché from Sinn Fein-IRA that they have a mandate, and we also hear them saying that the Democratic Unionist party is not serious about anything. They say that we are not serious about trying to get an Assembly up and running and, to use the words of Gerry Adams or Martin McGuinness, that the DUP does not want a Fenian about the place. Those are their words, not mine. I have sat in meetings—in fact, at Leeds Castle—when my right hon. Friend the Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) told the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, ““I am not asking for anything for myself that I am not asking for my Roman Catholic neighbour.”” That is a fact; my party is about representing all the people in our constituencies. So the nonsense that Sinn Fein come out with is just a myth. I refer to family tragedy and many of my colleagues could relate to family tragedies and those involving others connected to their families, but let us remember that we must consult the victims and convince them that it is time to move on. That will be very difficult. My hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Donaldson) and I are the chair and vice-chair of our party’s victims organisation. We talk to victims on a weekly and monthly basis and we hear the stories that come from those people—the tragedies and the heartbreak—and it will be very hard for them to move on. But as a constructive party that will show leadership, it is our job to talk to those people and to convince them that it is time to move on. That will be difficult, but I believe that those people must be helped through that painful time. Another of my concerns is that we talk about Sinn Fein-IRA coming on to different bodies and structures in government. For example, if Sinn Fein-IRA decided that they would go on to the Policing Board today, in reality, what information could the Chief Constable release in a Policing Board meeting that would not be passed on, possibly to some of their colleagues?