Willie Hay calls for inclusive unionism and says devolution favourable to 'unaccountable' direct rule

Transcript

00:00 As a devolutionist, I want devolved government to succeed in Northern Ireland.

00:07 I want to see decisions taken on education, health, the economy and many, many other issues.

00:14 Decisions which impact the lives of people are best taken at local level in Northern Ireland.

00:21 And we all know how direct rule worked in the past.

00:25 We were there where you had direct rule ministers who flew out of Northern Ireland,

00:31 made decisions over the heads of the people of Northern Ireland with no accountability whatsoever.

00:38 Direct rule did not work and was not best for Northern Ireland.

00:43 And I know in those days, speaking to many ministers, they really didn't want to take the decisions.

00:49 They were continually saying these decisions should be taken by local ministers, and rightly so.

00:57 And I do welcome the recent efforts by the government working alongside my party

01:02 to find a way forward on issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework.

01:08 And I have to say, leadership is about making the difficult decisions.

01:13 The difficult decisions.

01:15 We all can stand on the sidelines and make the easy decisions.

01:18 But then when you're in the heat of the kitchen, you have to make the decision.

01:23 And I believe my party leader and my party was right to make the decision that they made

01:28 to get back into the Assembly, work the Assembly, but it's work that is not finished.

01:34 Not finished.

01:36 It is continuing work with this government and keeping their feet to the fire

01:41 on all of the issues tonight that have been mentioned.

01:44 Let me say as well, for unionists to prosper in the decades to come, it must be inclusive unionism.

01:50 It must maximise its potential, and we can get there by making Northern Ireland work

01:55 as a full and equal part of this United Kingdom.

01:59 For Northern Ireland to work, our government needs to work as well.

02:03 The system of devolution in Northern Ireland is far from perfect.

02:08 In many areas there needs to be improvement.

02:12 But it also needs to be on a basis which can command cross-community support.