Lord Caine
Main Page: Lord Caine (Conservative - Life peer)
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
I thank the noble Lord for his question. Her Majesty’s Government have had extensive discussions with Sinn Féin and all the parties leading to the agreement, which has seen the restoration of the Executive in Northern Ireland. On Brexit-related issues and the border, we are discussing with the EU and not with any individual member state, but we look forward to discussing these issues more with any new Government in Ireland once they have been formed.
Lord Caine (Con)
My Lords, the comments of the Garda commissioner, to which my noble friend referred, were based on an assessment carried out in 2015 by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and MI5, which was published by the then Government. The assessment made very clear that the IRA still exists, and that
“the Provisional Army Council oversees both PIRA and Sinn Féin with an overarching strategy.”
As somebody who has spent many hours in meetings with Sinn Féin, I acknowledge the moves that it has made away from violence to politics, but does my noble friend agree that too many ambiguities still exist, as evidenced at the recent Irish election with the chanting of pro-IRA slogans by a number of their candidates? Is it not the case that if Sinn Féin is finally to convince many people across these islands that the journey to exclusively peaceful and democratic means is complete, the structures of the IRA for which there was never any justification must finally go for good?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
My noble friend speaks with considerable authority and experience, having spent more time than any Conservative in political history in meetings with Sinn Féin and the other parties in Northern Ireland. He referred to the report that the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—his old boss, Theresa Villiers—commissioned in 2015. As she said in the other place when that assessment was published,
“paramilitary organisations have no place in a democratic society. They were never justified in the past, they are not justified today and they should disband.”—[Official Report, Commons, 20/10/15; col. 829.]
I wholeheartedly agree.