Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Leader may have noted a statement by business leaders in the North this morning calling on the parties to work together to restore devolved government. They stated that stable government was needed to guarantee peace, to attract investment, to deliver job creation and to advance social progress. I support that statement and their call on the political parties in the North to get together and work together to get devolved government back on track.

The alternative, as every Member here will know, is shocking. It will be the return of direct British rule into this country, something that I and most people here would see as a retrograde step. There are always differences in politics, but the differences dividing the two main parties fade into insignificance when one thinks of the reality of the reintroduction of British rule into this country. I call on the main parties there to do what politicians are meant to do and work out a deal. It is not easy to work out a deal especially when they do not have the support-----