He has been a leader without equal. His contribution has been immeasurable and no man laboured more faithfully than he to secure the political agreement that now shapes the future.
Having worked with Ian for so many years, I am especially honoured that it is he who has nominated me today. He has laid the foundation for this new era, and now it is up to the rest of us to build upon it.
When Enoch Powell said that all political careers end in failure, he hadn’t reckoned on the career of Ian Paisley.
But, today calls on me to look forward to the future and the huge challenges that lie ahead. For me, while holding the post of First Minister will be a great honour, politics is not about who fills an office, it is about what is done when in office. Ultimately, that is how history will judge us all.
We have made a good start. There are some in this chamber who have in the past quoted an old Irish proverb or aphorism which being interpreted says ‘A good start is half the job’.
Yet, Mr Speaker, we must remember that it is only half the job. There is still so much work to be done. A year on, the settling-in period is now over. The time for the Executive and Assembly to deliver has arrived. There is much important work to be done.
- We must secure the peace that has been achieved and remove, once and for all, the last vestiges of all paramilitary organisations and activity that has for too long marred our Province.
- We must grow the economy and build the prosperity that can help the lives of all the people who live here.
- We must address unresolved issues in a way that commands the confidence of our community.
- And we must work to transform the institutions to ensure that we move smoothly to democratic normality in the years ahead.
If devolution is to be meaningful to the people of Northern Ireland then the responsibility for delivering results rests with all of us.
Of course the Deputy First Minister and I will have to roll up our sleeves - and neither of us will duck the challenges or recoil from the hard work that such tasks require.
No-one knows better than we do, after a year operating within the Executive, that there is no elevator that will take us to a successful outcome. We will just have to take the staircase – step by step by step.
But this is a four-party mandatory coalition. In the time ahead I want to work alongside all my Executive colleagues. All of us across this House have a vital role to play in delivering for the people who elected us. We will best succeed if we are all striving towards a common goal.
I will want to discuss and engage with other leaders in this House on how best we might work together to achieve the Programme for Government the Assembly has agreed and how best we should address outstanding and unresolved issues.
I know how we deal with these matters is not the sole preserve of the two largest parties but of all – and I do not even limit that dialogue to Executive parties – I languished on the opposition benches too long to do that. I genuinely want that engagement.
For a moment let me respond to some opponents outside this House.
Over recent months, falling upon our ears like a fire bell in the night, have been the claims that my party is somehow under pressure and likely to lose support because we are in the Executive.
Parties have been build up and cast down from the earliest period of our history to the present day and no party has the right to expect unquestioning or automatic support from the people. Support has to be earned and trust must be maintained.
It is true that people step cautiously when they are asked to tread new ground and the decision we took just over a year ago quite rightly must be judged by our voters. I believe the decision was right. I also believe that time is demonstrating our judgement was sound. There is nobody out there who can offer a better achievable way forward.
My colleagues and I will justify to those who matter – the electorate of Northern Ireland - the judgement call we made. But let me assure you, Mr Speaker, our actions as we move forward will not be limited or governed by the snarl and screech of those jarring and rancorous voices that trade on creating fear.
We will waste no time looking over our shoulders at those who have nothing to offer and whose only hope is to profit from a healthy scepticism about whether the course we offer is safe to travel.
Ian used to say to me - when we faced difficult decisions – “Do what’s right though the stars fall”.
You know, Mr Speaker, we did what was right and the stars didn’t fall for when you do what’s right the people will follow.
Those in this House who have been in politics, as long as I have been, will have seen these parties appear many times before. They seek to tap into some genuine apprehension or concern and though they have no attainable solution and have done nothing to commend themselves to the people they hope to ride to office on a tide of emotion or doubt.
These people have no alternative other than offering the people of Northern Ireland a seat on the bleachers to helplessly observe while others take our decisions for us.
There is no part of me that prefers being a bystander, unable to influence or shape the future; unable to change or improve the lot of our people; unable to govern ourselves and assigned to the sidelines while, under Direct Rule, London and Dublin decides our fate.
We have the courage to shape our own destiny and we have the confidence to do right and trust in the good judgement of the people.
Mr Speaker, as we move forward in this new era we must never forget the events of the last 40 years and in particular we must never forget those whose lives were cut short - those who have suffered and those who still do.
As an administration we are pledged to help the victims of the Troubles and we must boost our efforts to ensure, as best we can, that victims too share in the benefits of the new era.
We must not go back to those bad old days.
We must learn from the past. We must not live in it.
I want to see a Northern Ireland that is not known throughout the world for “The Troubles” nor even for the peace process. I want to see a Northern Ireland that is known for innovation, for its industry, for the economic opportunities it offers, for the friendliness, warmth and charm of its people and the beauty, vitality and magic of its landscape.
In this new era we have much to celebrate. There has probably been no point since the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921 that there has been more widespread support for both the political and policing institutions than exists today.
We in Northern Ireland are in the unique position of benefiting from all of the advantages of being a part of the United Kingdom and at the same time having more positive relations than ever before with the Republic of Ireland. We have also enjoyed the support and encouragement of the United States and we very much look forward to the visit of President George Bush in a few weeks’ time.
We are grateful for the support we have been given in the past from outside Northern Ireland but the real test of our maturity as a society will come when we all have the self-confidence to face and resolve our own problems.
In the last few weeks there has been much talk of how the DUP has exercised the veto it negotiated at St Andrews. Yes, we have exercised our veto and we have not been alone in doing that. But applying a veto is not an indication of strength or success. It is simply an indication of a failure to agree.
Let me make it clear I did not negotiate these changes as a weapon to be used against other parties, but as a safeguard, for as long as it is needed, of the interests of everyone in Northern Ireland.
The truth is that unless we can create a shared society we will not truly have turned the corner as a people. So – if I can rework the words of Abraham Lincoln, uttered almost 150 years ago - let us strive on to finish the work we are in and bind up the wounds of our divided community.
Mr Speaker, in all that I do as First Minister I will – with God’s help, and He granting me an ample portion of strength and wisdom - work to put the interests of the people of Northern Ireland first.
I pledge to work unstintingly to help navigate this Province towards a better and finer day.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
I thank my party leader and friend Gerry Adams for the nomination as Deputy First Minister. I accept this post fully aware of the responsibility and the potential of the post as a co-equal partner in leading this Executive. I wish to congratulate Peter Robinson on his appointment. I agree with Peter that neither of us are afraid of hard work and I look forward to working with him in the time ahead.
I am conscious that leading the Executive along with Peter Robinson brings a high level of expectation. We must deliver a real and marked improvement in people’s lives. How we conduct our business and resolve our differences impacts directly on this task.
I am an Irish Republican. I want to see a re-united Ireland created by peaceful and democratic means. I want to see the unity of the Orange and the Green.
I am committed to working these institutions with the new First Minister, a committed unionist. Delivering for all of our community, for citizens and for the most disadvantaged and bringing about change does not impact on our respective political ideologies.
I am also committed to working with every party and member in this Assembly in delivering a new and better future.
The eyes of the world have been upon us in the course of recent years, as regions have looked to Ireland and our peace process as an example of conflict resolution. I have no doubt that this will continue into the future as we seek to continue as a society moving forward in partnership.
Despite what the cynics and begrudgers might say over the past year we have made huge progress. We have achieved what many said was impossible. We are in a stable power sharing and all-Ireland institutions. We have agreed a Programme for Government, a Budget and an investment strategy.
There is much hurt within every section of our community. People have lost loved ones and many others have been injured in the course of the conflict. They are an important constituency. And we now have in place a Commission to address the needs of victims and survivors.
As an Executive and we are pro- actively tackling the divisions within our society and will continue to do so.
Across a range of issues we have confounded the critics and from differing positions we came to effective agreement. We have shown that we can work together. Peter Robinson and myself where part of the Executive which has achieved this and I am committed to working with Peter Robinson positively as we meet the new challenges which we now face.
The all-Ireland political institutions are up and running and delivering for all of the people on this island. They offer us an island wide approach to dealing with problems and offering solutions and bringing benefit to all of us.
Over the past year the institutions have been bedded down under the leadership of Ian Paisley and myself. It has indeed been a remarkably historic year. From the beginning both of us treated each other with respect, and I wish to pay tribute to Ian Paisley for his role in this and I wish him and his wife Eileen well in the future. Throughout the past year we have enjoyed much support and goodwill from the people of Ireland.
But we are now entering a new phase. As far as I am concerned the Honeymoon period is over. This is now about hard work. People out there are expecting results. We come here to deliver for the people.
Our people want a future for their children and prosperity at a time when the cost of living is spiralling. We must continue to grow our economy in order to generate wealth to deliver effective public services and protect the most vulnerable in our society. The recent Investment Conference was a success and I am confident that it will lead to tangible results.
Our people want an end to division and to be valued equally. As an Irish Republican I want equality for everyone not just republicans and nationalists. We must promote tolerance and celebrate our cultural and linguistic diversity.
We must be open to the new communities who have enriched our society in recent years and we must stand with them in the battle against racism.
The war is over. Ian Paisley in generous remarks after a meeting of the North/South Ministerial council in Armagh said that we had to end the divisions and old hatreds on our island. That means pro-actively tackling the scourge of sectarianism. Difference in our past meant division. In the future we need to ensure that difference isn’t seen as a threat but instead as something to cherish and celebrate. We need to start talking to each other and not at each other. And we as political leaders must take the lead, particularly here in this chamber.
Our people want to feel safe in their homes and on the streets. I want to see this Assembly having the powers on policing and justice to ensure that this happens.
We must continue investing in health, education and the elderly.
We face significant challenges in the global economy with rising prices and a down turn in the housing market. We also face challenges as we journey out of conflict and attempt to reconcile our past with a new and better future.
I believe that despite all of the challenges which lie ahead we will continue to make progress across the island.
We are determined to bring an early conclusion to the talks which will begin tomorrow to resolve all of the outstanding issues from the St. Andrews Agreement. The public want stability and progress and acting together with the new First Minister we intend to deliver both.
In a speech in the United States in 2006, the new First Minister made the following remarks;
‘I hope that the sons and daughters of the Planter and Gael have found a way to share the land of their birth and live together in peace.’
I share that hope and as joint First Ministers, the new First Minister and I, as the leaders of the Planter and the Gael, are charged with the responsibility to lead the way on behalf of the Executive.
