Former Social Democratic and Labour Party MP for Newry and Armagh
I thank the Minister for giving way to me, and for his kind words. Will he try to explain why—after 17 years and a police investigation by Sir John Stevens, which was very conclusive indeed—there is still no conclusion in respect of the Finucane incident? How, after the passage of 17 years, can the Minister's statement be substantiated?
One of the difficulties with the Saville inquiry was that it had to undo the faulty inquiry chaired by Lord Widgery. There was a danger in having reached a faulty conclusion through a faulty inquiry—the infamous Widgery inquiry—so the Saville inquiry's first business was to undo that. Secondly, there was an inordinate number of requests from the Ministry of Defence for judicial review, at...
May I say first that the perception of public inquiries among people in the north of Ireland, where I come from, is somewhat different from the general view of public inquiries carried out in England or Scotland or Wales? That is the case owing to the very nature of events and circumstances there, but the essence of the need does not change with circumstances or timing. On the very day that I...
My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. I read the speech, but I think that Mr. Adams recognised the institutions, rather than the state.
Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that organised crime is not specified in paragraph 13?
I want to make my position on this matter as clear as I did at the last Northern Ireland questions—I am not in favour of the motion. I have never been in favour of it for a number of reasons that I hope to explain. I am not going to vote in favour of it today. I come from a long tradition in relation to where I live and also to my family, which recognised the refusal to take or affirm an...
Does the Secretary of State agree that the single greatest obstacle preventing criminality from being dealt with is the inability to protect people who want to give evidence but cannot because of the paramilitary might that surrounds them? Does he agree that while other things are not possible at present, one thing is possible and should be required of every political party that will be...
I do not intend to waste much time on financial penalties. We opposed them in the negotiations before the joint declaration. We spoke against them in the House of Commons when the legislation that set up the Independent Monitoring Commission was considered and we will do so again today. The IRA and Sinn Fein thrive on victimhood and grievances. The House should not facilitate that by handing...
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken to ensure that (a) pupils' work placements in Northern Ireland and (b) the network of local Business Education Partnerships do not suffer as a result of the closure of Northern Ireland Business Education Partnerships (NIBEP); and what steps have been taken to ensure that the knowledge and information system...
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the first meeting of the Strategic Implementation Group following the publication of the Costello Report will take place.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has for the publication and circulation of the second part of the Curran Report into teachers' salaries and conditions of service.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what capital expenditure there has been on each school in the grammar school sector in each year since 1989.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) A5 and (b) A2 students were enrolled by Armagh College of Further and Higher Education to study (i) French, (ii) chemistry, (iii) art, (iv) physics and (v) economics in (A) 2001–02, (B) 2002–03 and (C) 2003–04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when annual funding to the Southern Education and Library Board will be made available; and if he will make a statement.
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many posts have been advertised by the Northern Ireland Court Service in the last five years; and how many were reserved, broken down by grade equivalent in the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who in the Northern Ireland Court Service has responsibility for determining whether posts should be reserved.
