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Northern Ireland

My Lords, I, too, thank the Leader of the House for repeating the Statement made in another place by the Prime Minister. There will be relief that the Hillsborough talks have led to an agreement; but much remains to be done. The excruciatingly protracted nature of the negotiations does not augur well for future progress towards achieving a mature civil society and a fully functioning democratic polity. That will take decades. Northern Ireland remains a divided society, fractured on sectarian lines. One precondition for further progress is for the unionist community to come together to form a united, coherent and moderate political organisation. Continuing triangulation between the various unionist factions will risk the strangulation of Northern Ireland politics. As the Hillsborough agreement recognises, the Executive must become more effective and assume collective responsibility for their actions. This is vital for the successful management of a divided society, which can then cease to rely, as it has for the past dozen years, on the de facto Dublin-London condominium. Tensions are best managed locally, but that requires a properly functioning Executive. In the much longer run, we must hope that conditions will permit the creation of ““normal”” politics, based on differences of ideas and programmes rather than sectarian interests. That is a distant dream, and doubtless there will be many setbacks on the way; but an immediate obstacle has now been cleared with the transfer of responsibility for policing and justice from London to Belfast, and we wish the proposed Minister of Justice good fortune in setting up and exercising this vitally important office. The transfer marks an irrevocable step—I stress that. The status quo ante can never be restored, whatever the circumstances. If the devolutionary settlement now formally completed breaks down, the likely solution will be some sort of mandated territory administered by the European Union or by a de jure London-Dublin condominium. Such a prospect should concentrate minds on striving to create a democratic polity, a mature civil society and a prosperous economy for Northern Ireland. As the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, said, that must be the hope of all of us in your Lordships’ House. We on these Benches welcome the agreement.