Peter Hain Quotes (40 Quotes)


    The big missing part of the jig-saw is to get the assembly back up and running here in Northern Ireland, to get shared government back in business, that is my objective, and we await the IRA statement to see if this will trigger a new dawn.

    Although Father Alec Reid has apparently apologized for those remarks, of course I condemn what he said.

    This is a moment of choice for everybody, for politicians and for people right the way down through every part of the community.

    I was never Vice Chair of the Troops Out Movement.

    I can't imagine anybody wanting to stand against him because it is quite likely they would face a crushing defeat.


    Taxpayers will not stand for - nor should they - the funding of poster sites, leaflets or advertising. What people will support is funding for political education, for training, for party organization.

    We have a situation ... with the police facing attempted murder and police facing violence which is on a scale that we haven't seen for many years,

    You can get on with your job. I'm going to get on with mine. And mine is to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland, that's what they expect from me and I'm not going to be deflected by interesting academic or media speculation or attempts to take the whole debate back.

    A lot of leading countries in the world, including the United States and Russia, have to take their responsibilities much more seriously to ensure we are back on the road to peace and stability.

    The problem is that once the government and he (Mugabe) encouraged the land invasions and did not do anything about the violence, but appeared to condone it, the situation escalated,

    There have been lots of promises by the IRA in the past, including (weapons) decommissioning events, but on a much smaller and more limited scale than this one ... This is different,

    We need to find a way through. I think we can because there is an acceptance by every one of the parties that the current state of political paralysis is simply not sustainable.

    The evidence I have seen is absolutely clear-cut. If it wasn't clear-cut before, it's absolutely categorical now.

    There was no prospect at all of the completely different life that I now see around me just today in Belfast

    My job now, as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, is to take this process forward, and that I'm determined to do, whatever old clippings you dig out and whatever old quotes you put before me.

    I strongly support European sanctions against Mugabe and his ruling clique. We must do all in our power to help the people of Zimbabwe achieve their freedom and prosperity once again.

    I'm going to be looking forward, asked to be judged on my record, not taken back as has been the - in a sense, the tendency throughout politics in Northern Ireland, is to always look back, always look at what was said a long time ago, instead of looking forward.

    The closeness of our friendship meant we could understand what needed to be done in a way other countries would not have done so,

    confirms all my worst fears ... The Sun has done the House a favor by exposing the amateurish and old fashioned culture which is a threat to the very cockpit of our democracy.

    We now have a political process, we've had a period of parties that have been fighting each other quite literally with bombs and bullets, talking to each other, and having sat together in the assembly and sharing government with each other.

    We're all working together then to look forward beyond an IRA statement, if it is the credible one we're hoping for and expecting.

    What my job is, is to get on with getting the process of democratic politics, back on the road, entrenching the peace settlement, and I ask you to judge me on my record.

    I think we now look forward to an IRA statement, which I hope will be credible and will open up a new chapter in Northern Ireland politics.

    And until we got the Good Friday Agreement, which opened up a whole new world for Northern Ireland, and indeed elsewhere, that has changed everything.

    Provided the enabling environment is established and maintained, this program will be achievable within two years, though if the conditions are right to move more quickly in implementing elements of the plan, the government will do so,

    There will be no support in the island of Ireland for building a nuclear power station.

    We're happy to have that conversation with people if they come with us on the principle. Interestingly, even among our critics - and I was discussing this with unionists yesterday - they all agree the current situation is actually the wrong place to be. So there's an element of consensus there. The argument is over exactly how we are proceeding. All change is difficult, especially in Northern Ireland.

    We'll be launching the new public prosecution service in Northern Ireland tomorrow. I'll be doing it in Belfast tomorrow. This is an entirely new era, in which criminal justice now exercised on an equal basis, not the old basis in which community division was a feature.

    I've had very good meetings with Unionist leaders, Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley and his team.

    play the political role that you claim as your motive, or face the rigor of the law as the Mafia organizations into which you seem to have degenerated are tackled. You will not be allowed to terrorize your own community.

    What's crucial is that the IRA produce a credible statement that paramilitary and criminality activity is a thing of the past. That they are committed to a future which is exclusively peaceful and democratic.

    What I've done in this decision overnight is to send an absolutely crystal clear signal to everybody that we will not tolerate violence.

    Those responsible must be brought to justice. I will support the police in any action they take to do that and in the meantime I think everybody from unionist communities will be absolutely appalled at the way paramilitary groups are really acting in a gangster type way.

    It's been fascinating watching all those pictures of me with a lot more hair Jeremy, and looking very young. And we've all got things we've said, twenty, thirty years ago, indeed the whole world has changed since then.

    When you look at what I've done here, you see a consistent theme of reforms which is not driven by any dogma from across the water, but a radical agenda to make sure Northern Ireland's people enjoy equal opportunities, driven by the values of social justice.

    So it is absolutely essential now that the government gives the lead to re-establish the rule of law,

    That Sinn Fein, as I've already indicated, their leaders have already indicated that's what they want to achieve - once we get that credible statement, then we can get around the table and start to move forward, and I'm confident we can do so.

    I am not denying there are not tensions. I am not denying there isn't the odd argument.

    Whatever our politics, whatever our religion, George Best has helped us find our common humanity.

    We have good reason to suspect that Iraq is still hiding chemical, biological and weapons of mass destruction in a range of locations.


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