Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Rhagfyr 1973.
It is not entirely by design that the debate has gone the way it has. We recognised that certain hon. Members would continue with their opposition to the constitutional proposals which have been coming forward since direct rule was imposed in March last year. Since that time Northern Ireland has experienced very severe agony and tragedy. It was in the light of what was happening then—the deaths that were taking place of the soldiers, the policemen, the UDA men, the old and the young, the girls and the boys—that politicians who had hitherto bitterly opposed in ideology and in practice what was put forward tried in a last desperate effort to bring some form of sanity back to Northern Ireland.
I recognise more than most that for three centuries Northern Ireland has been divided. For three centuries the minority and the majority have been standing in eyeball to eyeball confrontation, both of them claiming total victory and saying that they would accept nothing less. In those circumstances it was impossible for one section of that community to achieve total victory. In all the negotiations and treaties that have ever taken place in Anglo-Irish history nothing even approximating this situation has ever been taken into consideration. Negotiations were between Dublin and London. One section of the community claimed total and absolute domination over the other.
In view of that situation many politicians, including Mr. Faulkner, myself and the new political force, the Alliance Party, last year decided in all conscience to try, without guaranteeing success, to prove to the communities that they both had legitimate aspirations. No one could do it overnight and, without their consent, attempt to change their way of life. We were conscious that it would take a great deal of persuasion, but we knew that we must try. It had never been tried before.
After all the arguments and bitter fights which we had with the British Government under direct rule the stage was reached when the June election of last year was to take place. The election was fought on the Constitution Bill which, within a few days of the election, became enacted. The SDLP said that it would fight the election on the terms of the Constitution Bill. The pledged Unionists said exactly the same, as did the Alliance Party.
The hon. Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Stratton Mills) has given the election results. He has said that 162,000 people voted for Mr. Faulkner's brand of Unionism, that 65,000 people voted for the Alliance Party and that 184,000 people voted for the SDLP, making a total of 311,000. On the opposite side of the fence there were the Vanguard Unionists led by Mr. Craig, the unpledged Unionists led by Mr. West and Mr. Taylor, and the Democratic Unionist Party led by the hon. Member for Antrim, North (Rev. Ian Paisley). They received a total vote of 264,000 as against the 311,000 of the parties which said that they were fighting under the Constitution Bill and would attempt, with many reservations, which were expressed then and are expressed now, to bring the Constitution Bill into being and would try to evolve a system of government which would act in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants.
Those parties said that they would pay due respect to the two legitimate aspirations which are contained within the Northern Irish community. It must be conceded that the majority in Northern Ireland wishes to maintain its link with the United Kingdom. However, there is a sizable minority which gives its allegiance to the eventual reunification of Ireland.
No one would in any circumstances, recognising the realities of the hostilities which have existed for three centuries, attempt to beat one or other of those aspirations into submission. It was with that in mind that the parties decided that they would try to engage in talks which would evolve a system of government which would allow those aspirations to continue. It was hoped that a system would be evolved which would ensure that no one would be bombed, bullied, killed or coerced into accepting a system of government which brought into question their nationality or their way of life.
On 5th October the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland brought the parties together. In fact, he did not bring them together or attempt to do so. He did not whip them into submission. He did not say, "You must come here and agree to our proposals." The parties went voluntarily. I believe that Mr. Faulkner and his brand of Unionists went voluntarily. The Alliance Party certainly went there of its own volition. It must not be forgotten that for the first time in three centuries of Irish history Catholic and Protestant representatives—those people believing in a united Ireland and those who wanted to retain a United Kingdom Ulster—voluntarily discussed where they disagreed and on what issues they could agree. They asked themselves, "What cogent steps can be taken that will bring to an end the terrible massacre of the innocents that has been taking place here since 1969?"
That was the one idea which motivated us all. We found that Brian Faulkner was not the detestable bigot I had often thought him to be. I hope that he thinks the same about me and my party colleagues. He has put himself on record as saying that, throughout these negotiations, he had heard more constructive talk in relation to the Northern Ireland community than he had heard in 25 years as a Minister in a Unionist Government. That, I hope, was an admission and a concession, and I felt exactly the same throughout the whole period of the talks.
It was then decided that, having accepted the fact that neither community could claim total victory over the other, we would engage in a power-sharing exercise, that people of both communities would be in a position to participate in the running of their own country. I accept the fact that I am an Ulsterman, and Belfast man and an Irishman as well. In the country I was born and reared in, I would like to think that I could contribute at least one small thing to try to ease the terrible strain and distress under which so many people have been forced to live. I have been in opposition to the Unionist Party for very many years and I would be the last to try to put a restriction on anyone such as the hon. Member for Antrim, North, to try to limit his freedom of speech.
Having arrived at a successful conclusion to the power sharing, it was decided that the Ministries would be shared with what had been known as the Opposion, the minority Catholic community. John Hume, my colleague, was accepted as Minister of Commerce, and another colleague, Austin Currie, as Minister of Housing and Local Government. I myself became Deputy Chief Executive, with Ivan Cooper, also of the SDLP, as Minister of Community Relations. Each of us was conscious that we were entering into a new era, trying something out which had never happened in Ireland before.
We accepted the fact that many people would treat us with great distrust, but I give as an example my colleague, Paddy Devlin, the Minister of Health and Social Services. He is one of my closest colleagues, and I say again what I have said here and in Northern Ireland, that he is a man of great humanity and compassion, a man who wants to show the Protestant majority of Northern Ireland that he is not a bigot and that he wants to help each and every one of that community who needs help just as he wants to help people within the Catholic community.
Having agreed on how the Ministries should be allocated, we took it upon ourselves to show our sincere good will to the Protestant community, which has many real fears and suspicions about me and my colleagues and about the political parties I have been associated with throughout the years. I accept that. I accept that many people in the majority community have a sincere distrust of me, but we believe that there is only one way to allay the fear and distrust, and that is to let them see that we in the Executive are acting in their interests. There are many people in the Catholic community who have a sincere distrust of Brian Faulkner because of the tragedy and disaster of internment, because we have had in Northern Ireland one single Unionist-ascendant Government for 50 years.
When one comes to the question of the democratic process, so often alluded to by the hon. Member for Antrim, North, one tries to put an interpretation on what is democratic and what is anti-democratic. What he says is anti-democratic. It means, "I do not like it so I will not accept it." That is what it means in his terminology and to his way of thinking.
If it does not suit him and the people he represents or is associated with at present then he does not like it. Less than 24 hours after the announcement that agreement had been reached on a power-sharing Executive a dastardly attempt was made on the life of my colleague Austin Currie, at Dungannon, when machine guns and other forms of firearms were used, either in an attempt to kill him or the policemen guarding his home.
That very night the Provisional IRA issued a statement saying "We will wreck it". The hon. Member for Antrim, North (Rev. Ian Paisley), who I would have hoped would have remained in the House, at the time issued a statement saying "We will bust it". Here we have the two extremes reacting in exactly the same way to a last attempt to bring peace to Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA wants to claim total victory over the Protestant community in Northern Ireland while the hon. Member for Antrim, North and his cohorts want to claim total victory over the Catholic minority there.
I was delighted to hear today that some who had opposed direct rule last year have changed their minds. Some who spoke vociferously against direct rule have been able to see what has been happening since then and today they support the Government. I was impressed by the speech of the hon. and gallant Member for Down, South (Captain Orr). His sentiments conveyed to me that he was fearful that he might be submerged overnight into a united Ireland. Let me give him this assurance. If that were to be so I would object to it. One of the greatest things that came out of the Sunningdale talks was a recognition of the two aspirations in this document, which will in future years prove to be one of the most historic documents ever agreed to by Irishmen in the island of Ireland.
Let us not forget that the three Northern Ireland parties—the Alliance Party, the Unionist Party and the SDLP—were the most important factors in these talks. We also had the able assistance of the British Government, and no one can say that, by any standards, I am a supporter of a Tory Government. No one could ever charge me with that. We also had the assistance of the Government in the South. Here for the first time we had the Northern Irish community spokesmen, the Irish Government and the British Government.
The communiqué says that at present the majority in Northern Ireland wants to maintain its link with Britain. That is guaranteed. If at any time in the future, and the British Government have committed themselves to this, there is a majority in Northern Ireland in favour of becoming part of the Republic, the British Government will take no steps to impede this wish but will support it. Here we have the two aspirations totally catered for and respected. No one needs to lose any sleep, to rampage up and down the country instilling fear and dissidence into the minds of the people of Northern Ireland.
We have been able today to see the true face and sentiments of the hon. Member for Antrim, North. That man has tried to project in this House and through this House to the British public an image of moderation. That is not the case in Northern Ireland. One has only to be with him in the Assembly, as I was yesterday and the Wednesday before, to see the real Mr. Paisley or Dr. Paisley or whatever he likes to be called in Northern Ireland. My hon. Friend the Member for Salford, West (Mr. Orme) a moment ago quoted from an article written in the Irish Times. It was an accurate quotation. The hon. Member for Antrim, North is going around every town, village and hamlet in Northern Ireland preaching a gospel of fear and hatred. He gave a sermon in his church which said that the gallows had been prepared for him but he would not be going to Heaven yet.
I voted against capital punishment in both Stormont and in this House. I did not think capital punishment existed. But that is the sort of rhetoric that the hon. Gentleman uses. As I have said, he stated that he was not going to Heaven yet. A moment ago the hon. Gentleman castigated the hon. Member for Belfast, North and asked him whether he had some infallible knowledge of what the people in Northern Ireland wanted. There is a rail strike at the moment with people not knowing how to get from Victoria to Southampton, but the hon. Gentleman has no doubt about where he is going and whom he is going to take with him.
We again had pandemonium at Stormont yesterday. Last Wednesday in Stormont we had the most horrific scenes which have ever taken place in any democratically-elected Parliament. The hon. Member for Belfast, North posed the question "What happens if we do not get the opportunity to express ourselves?" I repeat that I am on the hon. Gentleman's side. I do not wish to deny anyone, particularly an elected representative, the right to express his opinion. But last week, when a democratic vote was carried in the Assembly, members of the Loyalist coalition began to kick and brutally assault members of the official Unionist Party. The hon. Member for Antrim, North was standing at the Dispatch Box when this occurred and he did not bat an eyelid. He did not turn round to see what was happening or to discover the reason for the noise because the whole thing had been planned before the Assembly meeting.
Yet the hon. Member for Antrim, North has the audacity to come to this House and to talk about democracy. Later that evening, when the Press and television were very concerned about what had happened in the Assembly, the hon. Member appeared on one television channel saying that he did not know anything about it, that he happened to be at the Dispatch Box making a point of order and did not know that some members of the Loyalist coalition had attacked Unionist Members, while at the same time one of his colleagues, Mr. Kennedy Lindsay, appeared on another channel saying "The whole thing was organised because we organised it." A member of the Loyalist Opposi- tion kicked a former Cabinet Minister, Mr. Herbert Kirk.
When we went to the Assembly at Stormont yesterday afternoon, we were told that the hon. Member for Antrim, North had been to the Speaker and to the Clerk the previous day and said that he proposed to move a motion which would call the House back into session today to discuss the Sunningdale agreement. I should have thought that if it had been known that the Sunningdale agreement and three orders were to be discussed in this House today it was the duty of elected Members of this House to be here. The hon. Member for Antrim, North wanted the agreement to be debated in Northern Ireland instead, and it will be debated there tomorrow. He told the Clerk that if it was not debated he should expect trouble.