Ms Claire Hanna:

It has been a really useful series of engagements we have had, and I want to pick up on some of the other themes that members have addressed. I want to pick up on Mr. Adams's own understanding and journey on the issue of consent. In his opening statement he suggests that he, and the organisations he was involved with rejected Sunningdale because of issues around language and a lack of strength on consent. However, he quoted a phrase in the accompanying communique that referenced the Faulkner and the Alliance view on consent. He did not quote the sections that represented the explicit view of the SDLP on consent, nor that of the Irish and British Governments. There was a border poll in 1973 and while we can all agree it was a bit of a stunt, it is accepted by most people that the principle of consent was implicitly and explicitly already on the table. Mr. Adams and I can both agree that partition was and is a tragedy. However, is it not the truth that it was in fact his organisation that did not accept the principle of consent in 1973?