Assembly reform can’t be an excuse to avoid finding agreement: Shannon

Strangford MP Jim Shannon has said that calls to reform the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland should not simply be a cover by parties to exclude others who disagree with them.

By Jim Shannon MP

Strangford

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Speaking after a debate on the issue in Westminster Hall the DUP MP said, “Progress in Northern Ireland has only ever been made when there has been agreement within a divided community on major issues facing us. That process may not be easy, but it is the only way to ensure lasting progress.


There are others however, including the Alliance Party who appear to seek reform of the institutions in order to by-pass a difficult but necessary process of finding agreement. Their desire to reform Stormont is as more rooted in a desire to exclude unionists than a desire to seek progress.

We see that regularly when it comes to issues relating to the European Union. The desire to be ‘rigorous implementers’ of EU regulations continues to trump any desire to see consensus politics in Northern Ireland.”

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