LAGAN Valley MLA Edwin Poots, who was part of the negotiating team which hammered out an agreement in Hillsborough on the devolution of policing and justice, has said he is "more than confident" about selling the deal to the public and has insisted unionists have "nothing to fear".
Edwin Poots
Following long days and sleepness nights, a deal was finally struck last Friday wh
ich maps out a way forward to enable policing and justice powers to be devolved to the Stormont assembly.
This week Mr Poots said he was happy with the outcome, particularly considering the starting point, which had been "totally unacceptable."
Mr Poots said a number of issues had to be resolved during the lengthy talks at Hillsborough Castle.
"The first was the independence of the Chief Constable and the Lord Chief Justice" he said. "In terms of operational duties, those remain with the Chief Constable and he will continue to report to the Policing Board. The Lord Chief Justice will be responsible for appointing judges with no political interference.
"In terms of the Justice Minister himself, he will be responsible for quasi judicial decisions and issues that will come to the Assembly will relate to legislation."
The issue of parades also proved to be difficult, however Mr Poots said: "There is nothing for unionism to fear."
He continued: "I don't think every contentious parade will end up in a parade taking place but I do think better decision making processes will be put in place. I don't know what parades will or won't take place but we need a new and improved framework which will do away with the Parades Commission to give better accountability and fairer decision making."
Mr Poots also pledged that meaningful consultation on the deal would be carried out and local people would have a chance to have their say.
"There needs to be a widespread consultation process so that communities have the opportunity to have their say. It needs to be done in a professional way that allows people safely and independently to identify what their issues are."
Despite concerns being expressed by other political parties, Mr Poots insisted he was "confident" about the deal and was anticipating everyone would "operate in good faith." He added: "Having got to this point it would be very foolish for them not to reach an agreement."
He said he believed the deal would also allow the Executive to operate better and enable the Assembly to concentrate on issues of importance to local people, including health and education.
"At a personal level, for three nights I got two hours sleep each night," concluded Mr Poots. "It was tough going but after starting from a difficult negotiating position to finding something acceptable, it was worth it."
