Lord Speaker visits Northern Ireland to promote dialogue between different legislatures

He will also visit the Shankill Women’s Centre, NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) and the CRC (Community Relations Council). He will also speak to students at Methodist College about the role and work of the House of Lords.

He is visiting Northern Ireland to help facilitate dialogue between the different legislatures across the UK.

His visit builds on the Lords’ intensive engagement in issues affecting Northern Ireland. For example, in April 2021, a dedicated committee scrutinising the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland was established, with membership from Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Lord McFall of Alcluith, the Lord Speaker, said:

“I am committed to developing closer working relationships between Westminster and the Assembly in Northern Ireland as well as the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

“There is real value in meeting Parliamentarians and Assembly Members from every part of the UK to discuss how we can work together to hold our respective executives and governments to account.

“I was a Northern Ireland Minister in the late nineties, so it will be great to be back in Belfast to see the progress that has been made since the Good Friday peace agreement was signed.”

Lord McFall was elected as Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in 2021 and this trip to Northern Ireland is his first official visit in his new role.

Before entering the Lords in 2010, he was a Labour MP between 1987 and 2010, first for Dumbarton and later for West Dunbartonshire. During his time as an MP, he served as a Minister in the Northern Ireland Office and as a Government Whip.