Ms Claire Hanna:

I thank Lord Empey. I have enjoyed and appreciated his evidence. I have appreciated his analysis and input, particularly in the Good Friday years and since, but also over the seven years of the Brexit process. His and the Ulster Unionists' foresight in thinking through how some of it was going to play out has been vindicated. While we have been at slight variance in emphasis and proposed solutions at different points, they have engaged in a credible and constructive way when the prevailing wind meant it would have been easy to throw their hands up and say "No" to everything, as others have done. It has not gone unnoticed.

Colleagues have asked many interesting questions, which I will not repeat. Lord Empey made a sensible point and reflected some of what Mr. Bertie Ahern has said about institutional reform. I see the logic of that and have cautioned against anything other than keyhole surgery, as it were. There is a real danger of opening up, particularly from people who would like to unpick large parts of the agreement. The House of Lords examined some of the proposals that my colleague, Mr. Colum Eastwood, and I made in respect of the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act in Westminster. Are there changes around matters such as restoring the mechanisms for electing first ministers that can be done within the framework of the agreement and for which there is consensus? If so, what is the best way to try to deliver them?