Armed groups in Northern Ireland will not be allowed to succeed, Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson vowed today.
Mr Paterson told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham the government is determined to bring Northern Ireland “back into the mainstream of UK politics” - which would involve disrupting and pursuing violent dissidents who are trying to undermine progress in the North.
He conceded there had been some “hideously difficult moral compromises” and “immensely tough decisions” during the peace process but insisted they had been the “right calls”.
Mr Paterson said: “The constitutional issues are settled. Northern Ireland’s position within the union is rock solid so long as that’s the wish of its people.
“But there are still some dangerous armed groups out there who want to destroy what’s been achieved and drag Northern Ireland back to a bloody past. And even though they have virtually no popular support, their activities have increased in recent years.
“We don’t underestimate the threat they pose, but they offer nothing and we will not let them succeed ... and we’ll do everything in our power to pursue these criminals, to disrupt them and prevent them from achieving their aims.”
He went on: “Our ambitions as a Government can be simply stated - they are to see a peaceful, stable and prosperous Northern Ireland, within the United Kingdom.
“A Northern Ireland in which everybody is treated with equal respect regardless of their community background or political aspirations, in which they have a shared future, and in which devolution is working, while we bring Northern Ireland back into the mainstream of UK politics.”
Mr Paterson repeated the Government’s position that there will be “no more costly and open-ended public inquiries” as he said the coalition will consult widely with victims’ groups and local politicians on how to deal with Northern Ireland’s “troubled past”.
To help rebalance the economy, the Government will look at proposals to turn Northern Ireland into an “enterprise zone”.
Ministers will honour a pledge to help savers who lost money in the collapse of Presbyterian Mutual Society, Mr Paterson said. He also told the conference “double jobbing” at Stormont and Westminster will be ended by law if a consensual way forward cannot be found.
PA