Mr. A. Cecil Walkerasked the Prime Minister what criteria she proposes to use in deciding whether to invoke the provisions of article 11 of the Anglo-Irish agreement relating to a review or revocation of the agreement.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Anglo-Irish agreement provides under article 11 that the working of the intergovernmental conference shall be reviewed after three years and that it may be reviewed earlier if either the United Kingdom or Irish Government wish. I have made it clear that if there were agreement upon proposals for devolved government we should need to review the implications of any such proposals for the working of the intergovernmental conference. I cannot foresee other 307W circumstances in which we might need to review the working of the conference befoe the end of the three-year period.
Mr. A. Cecil Walkerasked the Prime Minister over what time scale Her Majesty's Government propose to judge the extent to which the Anglo-Irish agreement has fulfilled the objectives set for it.
§ The Prime MinisterWe cannot expect the Anglo-Irish agreement to achieve its objectives overnight, and it would be wrong to prescribe time scales. I am, nevertheless, encouraged by the purposeful start that has been made on the range of matters, not least in cooperation on security.