Lord Dubs: My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat a Statement made in another place by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Statement is as follows: "I would like to make a statement on political progress in Northern Ireland. "In July my right honourable friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach asked former Senator George Mitchell to...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I am grateful for the support that the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has given on behalf of his party for the Statement today and for the Belfast agreement in general. I appreciate that there have been some differences of view over the past year, but this is a day when essentially we should look forward in agreement to see how we can consolidate peace in Northern Ireland. I agree with...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I do not have any such information about the IRA. The only information that I have about the IRA is the statement that it made and its commitment to this particular process. But there are dissident republican groups, the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, from which a threat remains. I can assure the noble Lord that the security forces are aware of that threat. Indeed, on a number of...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I understand the point that the noble Baroness is making, but, under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, exclusion of a particular party from the executive is a matter which only the assembly may decide. It would be wrong in principle for us to depart from the Good Friday agreement having made it the basis of everything we have done since it was developed. It would not be...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for the point he made in his question. Were I to do justice to the answer and to the people of Northern Ireland, I fear that I should trespass too much on the time of the House. I shall say briefly that we are moving to a position where democratic politics is the way forward for the people of Northern Ireland; not bigotry, intolerance, violence and...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I believe that all the political parties in Northern Ireland have had to settle for less than they might have wanted. Of course the UUP has made concessions, but other political parties have done so also. I should prefer to see the process as one to which all parties have subscribed and in which they have all made concessions fairly equally rather than one in which the burden has...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, all I wanted to say, without entering a complicated debate about Articles 2 and 3 and many other aspects of the Good Friday agreement, was that I believe that concessions and compromises have been made by everyone and that there was pain in the agreement for everyone, but that the parties subscribed to the agreement in the interests of the greater good and of peace. That was...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, the Irish and British Governments have worked in close unity on that matter. The Irish Government are certainly fully aware of the work of the decommissioning commission and of their responsibilities. My understanding is that the Irish Government are 100 per cent behind us on this issue. Of course, it is probable that the vast majority of arms to be decommissioned are in the...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, as the noble Baroness said, if there were to be default, a number of institutions would be suspended immediately--the assembly, the executive, the North-South Ministerial Council, the British Irish Council, the Civic Forum and the north-south implementation bodies. All of those must operate together or none can. So if necessary, the operation of all those institutions would be...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, the IRA issued a statement a few days ago--and that was the first time that it had issued such a statement. That statement makes a number of important remarks. It states, for example: "We acknowledge the leadership given by Sinn Fein throughout this process". That can only mean that the IRA accepts the position taken by Sinn Fein as regards decommissioning. Secondly, the IRA...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, first, I make it clear that unless there is default, we are not talking of new legislation in relation to the Good Friday agreement, apart from obtaining parliamentary approval for devolution, which we hope will take place next Tuesday. Therefore, the parity of esteem point arises in relation to the terms of the overall approach based on the Good Friday agreement rather than...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I am not sure that I am qualified to comment on that. Indeed, I do not have sufficient knowledge. The noble Lord must address that question to the people who live in the Republic in order to learn their views.
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I do not believe that I can go further other than to say that the IRA made a statement, some of which I quoted. It says that: "The IRA is committed unequivocally to the search for freedom, justice and peace in Ireland". It has said also: "In our view, the Good Friday Agreement is a significant development and we believe that its full implementation will contribute to the achievement...
Lord Dubs: rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 29th November be approved.--(Lord Dubs.)
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I beg to move that the draft Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Appointed Day) Order 1999, a copy of which was laid before this House on 29th November, be approved. I believe that this debate is a great occasion for Northern Ireland, in a week which will see enormous change for the better in that Province. For the past 30 years, Northern Ireland has been known throughout the world as a...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, also on 2nd December, the new British-Irish agreement will also come into effect, following an exchange of notifications between the Governments. There will be a new North-South Ministerial Council and six new implementation bodies to handle specified North-South matters accountable to the Dail and the new Northern Ireland Assembly. The Irish Government will immediately make a...
Lord Dubs: My Lords, I am most grateful for what I believe is the unanimous support of all those who have spoken for what the Government have put before the House today. Admittedly, that support was sometimes couched in terms indicating some qualifications; nevertheless, I am grateful for the welcome that the Government have received for their proposal from all sides of the House. Perhaps I may first...
Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will set out the framework, including controls, within which the department will provide financial support to Ufl Ltd.
Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether, in the light of the establishment of the devolved administration, they will clarify the departmental responsibilities for nuclear safety.
Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they have reached a conclusion about the implications for the Armed Forces of the European Court of Human Rights judgment on 27 September 1999.