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Northern Ireland

My Lords, the St Andrews agreement lends a whole new dimension to the notion of Ulster Scots. I welcome the Minister’s Statement and thank him for the advance sight of it. It is only fair to say that much praise should be given to the Prime Minister, the Taoiseach and the Secretary of State for their unremitting endeavours to see restoration of the devolved institutions and, with it, an enduring peace. Whatever else Mr Blair’s legacy will be composed of, it will be only fair that he is acknowledged for the role that he has played since 1997 and his assiduous, painstaking and persistent attempts to bring about peace, which now may well materialise. Some good progress was made in St Andrews last weekend. The paper published by the Government shows that there is now a real potential for achieving devolved government in Northern Ireland within the space of a few months. I am also pleased to see from Annexe B of the agreement that progress is to be made on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland and on a single equality Bill. I hope the Minister will be able to give some clarification on some further points. First, the published agreement seems to remove a step in the process of formulating an Executive: a cross-community vote to confirm the election of the First and Deputy First Ministers. We all know that this election has caused problems in the past, but nevertheless it is a fundamental principle of the Good Friday agreement. Paragraph 5 of strand 1 of the agreement states: "““Key decisions requiring cross-community support will be designated in advance, including election of the Chair of the Assembly, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, standing orders and budget allocations””." Such a vote demonstrates that there will be joined-up government in Northern Ireland and that the First and Deputy First Ministers enjoy the confidence of the Assembly. Why will such an important vote be omitted in the future? Secondly, will the Minister give the House an indication of how the structures for a department of justice will be agreed? Will that be a matter for the Executive, or for the Assembly as a whole? Finally, to reiterate what the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, asked, what will happen to those orders currently in abeyance until 24 November, including the education order that deals with selection and the 11-plus? Logically, and to keep faith, these should not be implemented until Stormont is fully reassembled. It would be cynical if that were not the case. I am glad to see that the Secretary of State emphasised that, "““there is not a choice between St Andrews and something else. There is only a choice between St Andrews and dissolution””." I hope it will be St Andrews, and not dissolution.