Statement by Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Responding to events in Northern Ireland over the past two nights, Laurence Robertson MP, Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, has issued the following statement:

"I pay tribute to all the police officers who have worked so hard in North Belfast over the last two nights, and send sympathies to those who have been injured. It is the bravery and determination of the security forces which has held Northern Ireland together at times like this.  There can be no excuse for the violence which we have witnessed in North Belfast over the last two nights  Huge strides forward have been made in the Province over the last ten years and there is no place for this kind of activity. Nor is there a place for any kind of paramilitary activity or sectarianism. Everyone in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, has access to the ballot box and the people of Northern Ireland are now responsible for taking their own policy decisions. For people to be attacking police officers and causing mayhem, when the rest of us are working to get the economy moving in Northern Ireland to secure a better future for everyone, is just counter-productive. It is senseless lawlessness, which is unacceptable and I hope that those responsible for it are swiftly brought to justice."