§ The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Paul Murphy)The Prime Minister has highlighted the need for Northern Ireland to find ways of dealing with the past which recognise the pain, grief and anger associated with it, but which also enable it to build a better future for the next generation. I have reflected carefully on what role I might play.
This is a complex and profoundly sensitive subject. There are no ready-made solutions. Opinion is divided on some aspects of the way forward. And the pain of victims and their families remains very real. I want, therefore, to proceed in a way that respects the feelings of all concerned, and which takes nothing for granted.
92WSOver the weeks ahead, I will be embarking on a programme of discussions with a wide range of people with relevant experiences and expertise. These discussions will initially take the form of private soundings, which will in due course lead to wider consultation. I will also be commissioning work on relevant international experience, which will cover the sort of processes that others have used in seeking to come to terms with the past.
My hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela Smith), as victims' Minister, has already engaged in careful and detailed consultation about the needs of victims and the ways in which Government and society should respond. She has been speaking to victims and survivors, their representative groups, experts, academics and practitioners in the field. That work will continue, and be brought to fruition. I will take full account of it in the discussions that I am setting in train. I will also have regard to relevant initiatives in a number of related areas.