Mr. Brian Gormally:

The British Government has not given any reasons. There are two reasons this is Westminster legislation. One is that part of it deals with non-transferred matters, that is, matters that have not been devolved to Stormont, for example, national security and so forth. It was always the case that part of the legislation would have to go through Westminster rather than Stormont. The second reason is that one would never get this legislation through Stormont because every clause would be the subject of argument and Nationalists and Unionists would not agree, clause by clause. On the other hand, the legislative consent motion that will be required is a "Yes" or "No" to the whole package and I believe such a motion has a very good chance of being passed. From our point of view, it must be human rights compliant. The implementation reconciliation group, IRG, does not require to be at Westminster. The document the Northern Ireland Office published yesterday indicates that it is not intended to put this in legislation but that the NIO stands ready to support Stormont in whatever it chooses to do.

I do not know whether there is a certain lack of interest in the IRG on the part of the UK Government because it will have a politically appointed membership. I do not know whether the UK Government believes issues or themes such as collusion or gender are a matter for the locals rather than the rest of the United Kingdom. I do not know, but it is certainly part of the package. On the question of developing themes or narratives about the conflict, I do not believe there will ever be one agreed narrative. Examining different themes and engaging with independent academics and so on comprise a long-term, important function. It is our view that it should be included in the legislation; otherwise it will be kicked down the road to Stormont, which may find great difficulty in legislating for it.