Member

Our new clause 12, which we will vote on today, would place a statutory duty on the Secretary of State to publish a reconciliation strategy within six months of the Act coming into force. If the Northern Ireland Office seizes the initiative, consults a broad range of stakeholders and ensures that reconciliation is a top priority, new ideas and approaches will emerge and can be tested, and we can then embrace more formal structures of restorative justice. As Drumcree shows, communities across Northern Ireland are still not fully reconciled. I believe that a new approach should be tried, one that incorporates principles of restorative justice. Restorative justice is not an easy process, or appropriate for everyone, but the power and healing facilitated by meeting those who did you wrong, and explaining the impact of their actions, can be hugely beneficial.