§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received recent representations from the Official Unionist Party concerning the future government of Northern Ireland; and if he will consider such representations favourably.
§ Mr. PriorI have met representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party twice recently to discuss political development. The discussions have been exploratory, but I have made it clear that I will welcome proposals for transferring power back to locally elected representatives that are broadly acceptable to the community as a whole.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received representations from leaders of the Roman Catholic community in Northern Ireland concerning his new initiative for the future government of the Province; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PriorI have had meetings to discuss political development in Northern Ireland with all major sections of the community in Northern Ireland. These meetings are continuing. At all of them I have sought to explore whether we can find a way of transferring power back to locally elected representatives that is broadly acceptable to the community as a whole.
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§ Sir John Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will exclude a condominium from the possible constitutional solutions for Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. PriorI am restricting my consideration of options for political development in Northern Ireland to those that are likely to be broadly acceptable to the community as a whole. A condominium arrangement does not satisfy that criterion.