§ 21. Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the damage resulting from bombing and rioting in Northern Ireland since the death by hunger-strike of the IRA man Frank Stagg.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesNo, Sir. It will be a considerable time before the full extent of this damage can be estimated.
§ Rev. Ian PaisleyI appreciate the Secretary of State's answer. Will he be able to help to speed the rebuilding of the factory in North Belfast which was burnt out and which resulted in loss of jobs for 130 workers? Can he do anything further to try to put these people back into useful employment?
§ Mr. ReesI shall do all I can in that respect, with the help of my colleagues who administer the Department. No doubt the hon. Gentleman noted the advertisement that I placed in Irish newspapers today pointing to the damage done to Northern Ireland by the Provisional IRA. I should emphasise to the House that I thought up that advertisement and that it was not as a result of the efforts of any psychological warfare unit.
§ Mr. GoodhartDoes the Secretary of State recall that at a meeting in Londonderry on 1st February, Sinn Fein spokesmen openly proclaimed that if Mr. Stagg died there would be a campaign of unprecedented violence in this country? If those words were an illegal incitement to hatred and violence, why have no arrests been made? If they were not illegal, what changes in the law does the right hon. Gentleman propose to make?
§ Mr. ReesWhat is done in that respect is not a matter for me. Following the end of detention, I am glad to say that the processes of law are in the hands of the Chief Constable. Whatever my views on the speeches mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, it is a matter for the Royal Ulster Constabulary.