Events in Northern Ireland

Dan Rogerson Excerpts

Thursday 10th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Villiers]

As the hon. Lady will be aware, and I am sure she will agree with me, the question of Northern Ireland’s future in the Union is settled on the basis of consent. The Government are not neutral on the Union and we believe that Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom is safer than it has been for many years. Regardless of that, it is crucial to find ways to unite the community in Northern Ireland. It is true that there remain sectarian divisions. On the subject of Scotland, I know that there are indeed some concerns about sectarianism there, although it does not manifest itself in the same ways as it does in Northern Ireland. It is true that many people in Northern Ireland have left those sectarian divisions behind, but not everyone has. We need to give children the opportunity to participate in shared education, and look at ways to have space that can be genuinely lived in, occupied and used by both parts of the community. In particular, I single out some of the education initiatives in County Fermanagh, which have demonstrated that it is possible to give children the opportunity to be educated alongside those from other backgrounds in a successful way. Those are the sorts of initiatives we need to deliver.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and join her in praising the PSNI for all it is doing to maintain peace in the Province of Northern Ireland. Does she agree, as we try to continue the peace process and move towards reconciliation, that all political leaders should be very careful in their use of language and what they put into print, to ensure that they do not create a climate that leads to a feeling of justification for other measures that people unfortunately take that are beyond the bounds of political debate?

[Mrs Villiers]

I agree that it is important that inflammatory language is avoided, because we can see the potentially disastrous consequences to which it can lead.