Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, although there has been a degree of unreality about the situation in Northern Ireland and here, in the capital of the United Kingdom, all who contributed to earlier debates will have gone a long way to correcting that. However, others must also contribute to reality and face the facts. That is not the practice of a great many people in a position to influence thinking and attitudes,...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I shall be brief. I share the view that all might not be well with this elite committee, as one might call it. What will be the method of selection of members? The noble and learned Lord the Lord Privy Seal has given us an inkling, but the process may not be so simple. At national level there would be no problem in selecting such a committee. Members would automatically be chosen...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran. His point about national security, so far as contracts are concerned, is a very valid one. He will know that there is another reason why we must be very careful. That is, certain contractors and their employees would come under the most hideous pressure from what one might term as "the other side of the community". While in another place,...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Rogan, for reminding me of prophecies I uttered in your Lordships' House some three years ago. I remember on that occasion a vast number of noble Lords, mainly on my left, saying that I was sending out the wrong signals. I ask them to think about the validity of that allegation. I do not want to rehearse what has been put forward effectively by...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I, too, regret yet another failure, although it was inevitable. It is inevitable that this kind of procedure will continue. In this remembrance season, perhaps we should be mindful of the old military maxim: "Always exploit success, never reinforce a failure". I hope, therefore, that we can concentrate on exploiting the success so manifest, for example, in Wales, which has its...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I rise simply to say that we are privileged to have heard the views of two distinguished members of the Policing Board, who have expressed to your Lordships not just their own views but the views of all the parties across the board who serve on the Policing Board. With respect I say that your Lordships, and the Government would be unwise to disregard those views.
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I understand the reservations expressed by my noble friend Lord Maginnis. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has served a purpose in highlighting the problem. Speaking to people who will be involved in those partnerships, it is apparent that there is a need for real clarity before we go too far down that road. It is important that the partnerships start on a firm footing, with no...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has been modest in his requirement. He knows that if one were to ask the proverbial man in the street which body would be best qualified to deal with this delicate matter, the name that would automatically come to his tongue would be the Northern Ireland Probation Board. It is respected throughout the entire community. It is seen and held to be...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, briefly but sincerely, I support the noble Baroness's amendment. However, I am at variance with my noble friend Lord Hylton, who I believe is too much of an innocent in advising that the Government should take into account his reservations. With all due respect to him, I do not think that he understands the sheer villainy of paramilitary organisations on both sides of the divide or...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I want briefly to express my full support for the case made by my noble friend Lord Maginnis. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, has calmly and accurately illustrated the enormity of what the Bill sets out to do. To illustrate the point, if the Bill were to apply in Great Britain to England and Wales, we would have the Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, as one who served, rather inadequately, on the processions and parades Bill, I found it the most demoralising experience I have had in 30 years in this building. If there is any way in which a true democracy can be given more of a free rein, we would all support it.
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I regard it as a great privilege to follow the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew of Twysden. His services in Northern Ireland were greatly enhanced by his understanding of and his loyalty to judicial principles, as was evident during his earlier time as Attorney-General of the United Kingdom. In that respect he has much in common with the noble and learned Lord the Lord Privy...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I have a note from the Chief Whip's office that was circulated yesterday at around 7.15 p.m. It was no doubt an attempt to be helpful. It simply said: "We tried to contact you this evening but I suspect you have all gone home for the Easter Recess". There is a message there, is there not, my Lords?
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, I, too, support enthusiastically the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, for the reasons I gave on a previous occasion. Those reasons are even more relevant now than they were 10 days ago because the passage of time has made this amendment, and a different approach to the entire Bill, more urgent and more relevant. I know that outside observers have great difficulty...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, those of us in this House who have pressed for confining the renewal of the disqualification Bill to a period of one year have been vindicated, to a great extent, by recent events. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has drawn attention to various visits paid by people from this part of the world to America. I believe that the most significant one was that of the Secretary of State for...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords—
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: My Lords, do the Government contemplate any change in the jurisdiction over Rockall and the surrounding seas?
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: I have a valid reason for supporting this amendment. One of the factories producing counterfeit medical cards was situated in my former constituency. Despite that, I managed to scrape through.
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: Very briefly, with those qualifications and what I regard as a strengthening of the position, I support the amendment. I do so because I may have a guilty conscience. I was mainly responsible for arguing that citizens in Northern Ireland should have postal votes for absentee voting. When that system was extended to Great Britain, the Home Office, under previous management, decided that the...
Lord Molyneaux of Killead: I indicated earlier that I might want to say a few words about this amendment. As the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, has said, we have been performing a real service in concentrating our attention on the imperative of making disarmament real and not a mere fiction. There must be some finality—we cannot go on drifting. Idle chatter about putting weapons beyond use, identifying unnamed bunkers,...
