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Northern Ireland

My Lords, I recognise the deep concern that the noble Lord expresses but I have to refute some of the arguments he made. This was not an agreement made by two Governments; it was an agreement made by two parties—the party of the First Minister and the party of the Deputy First Minister—in the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is regrettable that the Ulster Unionist Party was absent for a large part of the time but, as I understand it, that was a matter for the Ulster Unionist Party itself. I should also say that the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party was not instructed to chair the working party: he has been invited to chair the working party. We very much hope that he will take up that invitation. In repeating this Statement I am not trying to sell the agreement; I am trying to inform noble Lords of the agreement and of where we are vis-à-vis the agreement, which has support on most Benches in this House. Finally, on the position of the Justice Minister, the Assembly decided late last year in the Bill to create a department of justice that, given the special sensitivities of the post, the appointment of the Justice Minister should be made by a cross-community vote in the Assembly. This is nothing to do with the agreement going behind or beyond the St Andrews agreement. It is following on a decision made by the Assembly last year.