- Mr President, I would also first like to thank the Commission and the Council for their statements today. I think they will be important in the months and years ahead. I should also like to pass on my thanks to the President of Parliament for the measured statement he made in Brussels at the last sitting of this House.

Today I should first like to pay tribute to my people - the people of Northern Ireland - for their strength and resilience over the past 25 years in standing against the most vicious and vile campaign ever designed to destroy their freedom and their future. They have defeated the terrorists in their aim and objective and it is they, the people of Northern Ireland, who have won this war.

I would ask this House to remember that there are still those at large in Northern Ireland with a tremendous potential to kill and destroy. Not until we have a permanent cessation of violence by every para-military organization and a surrender of arms by everyone will real peace ever be found. I support the steady approach of John Major as we ascertain if they really mean what they say. Many mistakes have been made in the past through hasty support for policies built on a foundation of sand. When three months have passed our people will believe that there may be hope. When six months of peace have passed they will begin to believe there is perhaps hope. After nine months they will believe a new era may be possible; and twelve months of peace will ensure they believe there can be no turning back. So as the days roll into weeks and the weeks into months and the months into years, a new beginning may well come into being.

There are also many scars that run deep and will not disappear overnight. We had better face up to that as well. You cannot turn peace on with a flick of an electric light switch. People in my region look on with a degree of amazement when yesterday's terrorists with their apologies are hailed as the doves of peace today. Please remember that anyone under the age of 30 knows nothing in the province of Northern Ireland but violence around them.

I welcome the growing recognition that Unionists exist, have a view and must be heard, and that no solution can be imposed without their agreement. I welcome the more enlightened view of America at present, and I trust that this Parliament and the Commission and Council will ensure that the people I represent will never be overlooked again and that the mistakes of the imposition of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 will never again be repeated. The future of Northern Ireland can and will be decided only by the people of Northern Ireland, and by them alone, with no outside interference by anyone.

We must move with speed to ensure our people realize that support is available. To this end the European Union has a positive role to play, by anchoring new ideas and contributing to new initiatives. We require support to stimulate the economy and develop our tourist industry, and we require inward investment to create new jobs. May I remind you that we need as a minimum to create 20,000 new jobs in the next two years if we are even to stand still.

Money alone is not enough. We need economic growth, joint ventures and positive participation to achieve this task. But Europe and the Union could give a positive signal by siting one of the Union's agencies in Belfast. I strongly urge the Commission to meet with Northern Ireland's three MEPs, as the region's representatives, and to continue to consult with us in the weeks and months ahead. May I give a further word of advice to you? The International Fund for Ireland is not an acceptable organization to introduce new funding or increased funding, as it is neither a balanced nor a trusted body in the province.

The road to peace in Northern Ireland will be long and dangerous. It will take courage and vision on all sides to bridge the chasm between us. The people I represent want peace more than anything else; but not under duress or at the price of the terrorist. But they will continue - as will I and my party - to be positive in attempts to achieve a real peace built on a sound foundation, and we will have to take risks to achieve a new tomorrow. I and my family know the ravages of terrorism, for we have faced it at first hand. I make an appeal from this Chamber today as someone who has felt it, lived with it and known it all my political life. To all para-militaries in my province I say: let my people go, let my people have a life, let my people realize what a normal society and a normal life is!

In conclusion, I want to say that I am certain of one thing, that I will never again accept that future generations should suffer what those of us who have come through the last 25 years in Northern Ireland have suffered. Never ever again will we accept that.

(Applause)