Annex A
STATEMENT ON
DEALING WITH
THE PAST
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 which respects the feelings of all concerned, and which takes
nothing for granted.
Over 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
which others have used in seeking to come to terms with the past.
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 which I am setting in train.
I will also have regard to relevant initiatives in a number of
related areas.
| 
