Mr. Paul Maskey:

I thank the Minister for coming into my constituency of West Belfast, where he met with the families of the Ballymurphy massacre. The stories they told, which I have heard a number of times, were absolutely horrendous. The local parish priest had heard them before but even he broke down yesterday, which shows that, more than 40 years after their loved ones were murdered in the streets where the Minister was yesterday, they are still in people's heads. He satisfied the families to a certain extent about the issue of the Statute of Limitations, saying he would oppose it and would speak to the British Government on it. The inquests will be held next year and the legal team asked us about costs, where they said there could be difficulties because the British Government had yet to release the finance. There is a danger that there will not be enough money to cover all the inquests so perhaps the Minister will ask James Brokenshire if he will release the money when he speaks to him this evening. It would allow the Lord Chief Justice to continue with the inquest. The families have been fighting for justice for 46 years.

In regard to the 50% plus one issue, the Minister said he did not want an Ireland of minorities. I do not think anybody in this room wants to see an Ireland of minorities but would work for an Ireland of equals. I ask the Minister to work with the rest of us to build that Ireland of equals and to put papers together that would allow that to happen and would show how we could move forward with that Ireland of equals to a referendum on unity.

The Minister replied to some points made by Mr. Hazzard on the NI Act. He said the answer would work itself out over time but is that not a stage 1 issue that should be dealt with immediately? I urge him to deal with it as speedily as he possibly can.