Seventh Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation
Wednesday 24 March 1999
[Mr. Edward O'Hara in the Chair]
Draft Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Specified Organisations) Order 1999
4.30 pm
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Adam Ingram): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Specified Organisations) Order 1999.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to consider the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 (Amendment) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999, No. 525).
Mr. Ingram: The Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Specified Organisations) order was laid before the House in draft on 3 March 1999. The order has the effect of adding the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders to the list of organisations that are ineligible for the benefit of the Northern Ireland Sentences Act 1998. That benefit is the early release of prisoners convicted of scheduled or terrorist-type offences. Those prisoners are, of course, released on licence. If an organisation is specified, supporters of that organisation do not qualify for early release. The order also removes the Irish National Liberation Army from the list and thus entitles its supporters to benefit from early release if eligible.
The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 (Amendment) Order 1999 adds the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders to the list of proscribed organisations in schedule 2 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996.
Before I go into more detail about the provisions of the orders and the need for them, I shall set them in context. As all Committee members will be aware, Northern Ireland has in recent weeks attracted much news coverage as the parties and Governments have urgently sought to secure the full implementation of the Belfast agreement. However, in the past 10 days we have, tragically, seen a return to the dark days of murder on the streets. Despite the positive efforts for a lasting peace, the tragic litany of murders and attempted murders continues. The most high profile of those, which attracted international attention and condemnation, was the murder of Rosemary Nelson, a much-loved wife and mother of three and, within her community and beyond, a highly respected solicitor. That murder was admitted to by the Red Hand Defenders.
The Government very much welcome the swift action that was taken by the Chief Constable in involving David Phillips, chief constable of Kent, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this horrendous murder. Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Chief Constable, said:
``not only will this investigation be meticulous but it will be transparently obvious to''—
the family of Mrs Nelson—
``and to the watching world. I am determined that those concerns will be addressed''.
The Chief Constable has further emphasised that no constraint or limit whatsoever will be placed on Chief Constable Phillips and the FBI.
Yesterday in Castlewellan, County Down, the most recent of a number of vicious attacks took place, in which a man was injured by a grenade. That attack was admitted to by the Orange Volunteers.
Set against those despicable acts, and with the memory of Omagh very much on our minds, is the fact that over the past year Northern Ireland has seen a transformation in its political climate. The Good Friday agreement has provided, for the first time in Northern Ireland's history, an opportunity to secure long-term peace and political stability based on an agreed accommodation between the two communities.
There has already been a great deal of progress in implementing the agreement. The new Assembly has been set up, treaties have been signed to establish agreed cross-border bodies, the Human Rights Commission has been set up, reviews of policing and criminal justice are well underway and the Equality Commission will be established next month. Only a year ago, all that would have been unthinkable.
There is still hard work to be done, but the prize is within our reach. That is what the organisations that are not on ceasefire want to destroy. They want to bring an end to the hard-won progress that has been made, and they must not be allowed to succeed.
I shall now return to the orders. The specified organisations order specifies the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders as organisations that are ineligible to benefit under the prisoner early release scheme. It also has the effect of de-specifying the Irish National Liberation Army and thus brings it within the early release scheme. That is in recognition of the fact that the Secretary of State now believes that INLA is observing a complete and unequivocal ceasefire.The same criterion was used for not specifying the PIRA, as well as the UDA, the UDF and other Loyalist organisations; in December last year, it was used for de-specifying the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
The Orange Volunteers are described in both orders as
``The organisations using the name `The Orange Volunteers' and being the organisation in whose name a statement described as a press release was published on 14th October 1998.''
A copy of that press release has been deposited in the Library for the convenience of hon. Members. The rather precise wording was deemed necessary to differentiate between the present-day Orange Volunteers and an organisation of the same name, which is unrelated and which was formed in the 1970s. Although the 1970s organisation has been inactive for some years, it still exists. It is not, however, an organisation that should be proscribed, nor does it meet the criteria for specification.
The emergency provisions amendment order proscribes the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders. Because it was made under the urgency procedure for which sections 60(3) of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 provides, those organisations were proscribed with effect from 4 March 1999. We are seeking to have that proscription endorsed by Parliament.
The main effect of proscription is that membership of the named organisation in question becomes a criminal offence. In addition, proscription creates offences in relation to soliciting or inviting financial or other material support; helping to arrange, manage or address a meeting; and a person dressing or carrying articles in a way that is likely to arouse reasonable apprehension that he is a member or supporter of the relevant organisation. The orders should be seen as evidence of the proportionate response that the Government take to the extraordinarily complex situation in Northern Ireland.
Clearly, there has been tremendous progress in Northern Ireland in a short period and, as I said, the Good Friday agreement is evidence of that. There is, however, still a small number of people on both sides of the community who want to halt that progress and destroy other people's hopes of a lasting peace. Recent events have shown all too tragically that those people are dangerous and pose a real threat to the community at large. The Government are resolute in their determination that those people will not succeed. That is why we have taken this action today. It is, however, not just up to the Government. It is the responsibility of the political parties, supported and encouraged by the Governments and by the people of Northern Ireland, to make political progress and to ensure that the agreement is implemented in full. I am sure that hon. Members agree that that represents the only way forward in Northern Ireland.
4.37 pm
Mr. Malcolm Moss (North-East Cambridgeshire): We are grateful to the Minister for explaining the two orders. Although they are extremely short, they are nevertheless important. We fully support the Government in laying them before us.
The way in which the orders have been formulated is interesting. We are grateful for the definition that the Minister gave of the Orange Volunteers. Some confusion has arisen about the name: it was previously used by another organisation, which, in the Government's eyes, is not one and the same as that in the order. We are grateful for the Minister's differentiation between the two.
The Minister mentioned the heinous death of Mrs. Rosemary Nelson. This seems an appropriate time to add our comments on that event. Our sympathy goes to her family and friends, and we fully deprecate the actions of those in society who, as the Minister said, seem hellbent on destroying the agreement and the excellent work that has been done so far to progress it almost to its final stages.
The Government, as they said earlier today, and the parties to the agreement have more or less done everything that was required under the terms of the Belfast agreement. Everything was in place and the date of 10 March was chosen because by then the Government would have done everything that they said they would do. With the setting up of the Executive and the implementation under d'Hondt of the ministerial appointments, everything was ready to move forward. A new deadline has now been set and we offer the Government our hope that they are successful in those difficult and delicate negotiations—I know that the Secretary of State is involved in those discussions as we speak.
It is, however, sensible and right to point out that in our view the Unionists, particularly under the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble), the First Minister, seem to have gone as far as they can go, yet no movement is forthcoming from Sinn Fein-IRA. There is no doubt in our minds that responsibility for the agreement not coming to fruition will lie with those on both sides of the paramilitary equation—both Sinn Fein-IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries—because they have not met the requirements of that section of the agreement dealing with decommissioning.
To return to the terrible death of Mrs. Rosemary Nelson, we welcome, and support the Minister's comments on, the speed with which the Chief Constable acted in bringing in outside bodies to help with the investigation—both the Kent constabulary and the FBI. We understand that the Royal Ulster Constabulary will nevertheless be heavily involved in the investigation, perhaps doing some groundwork under the aegis or guidance of the Kent constabulary. However, we now hear rumours of statements in parts of the nationalist community to the effect that the RUC should in no way be involved in investigating the death of Mrs. Nelson. That would be completely unacceptable to Opposition Members.
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