Any attempt to force the hand of Irish nationalists and British unionists against their will in Northern Ireland is misconceived

Believe me, my involvement in the debate over Margaret Thatcher’s Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 taught me a lesson I have never forgotten.

As leader of the English Parliamentary Party I have one abiding principle in respect of Northern Ireland and Ireland and that is that the opinion of the voters of Northern Ireland must be respected above all else.

Hence any attempt to force the hand of Irish nationalists and British unionists against their will and better judgment in Northern Ireland is misconceived.

The interests of the DUP would never have been consulted by the Conservatives had it not been for Theresa May’s disastrous result in the general election of 2017.

If the DUP and Sinn Fein cannot quickly come to terms then the important questions of abortion and gay marriage will be decided not by the people of Northern Ireland but by British MPs at Westminster.

Only the Irish can solve the Irish question and for that to happen the Irish must engage in serious discussions among themselves.

The suggestion by Baroness Paisley to work with Sinn Fein on the question of abortion (whatever the ultimate verdict of Northern Ireland voters) is surely the way forward for the future of a Northern Ireland finally at peace with itself and with the Republic of Ireland.

Baroness Paisley is here at one with her late husband.

On abortion Ian Paisley said that he would work with the Pope.

It is the way to end sectarian politics on the island of Ireland once and for all.

Gerald Morgan, Fellow Trinity College Dublin (leader: English Parliamentary Party, 2001), Dublin