A very clumsy attempt to make a point there WC. As and David and Adam said, apart from the obvious difference of there being no sectarianism or equivalent of the Trobles that needs resolving here in Wales, thankfully, another difference is that a Northern Ireland MPs could never be Ministers in the NIO – so they were de facto ruled by people from outside, whereas we had Welsh Ministers of our own.

Paul has talked about the benefits of devolution many times, including in an interview for this very site – about the benefits of improved accessibility and accountability. Any attempt to create an anti-devolution straw man out of Paul is wide of the mark – he’s played a huge part in making devolution a success, both in NI and Wales.

The majority of the community in Northern Ireland looked into the future and decided that it was necessary to move on from intolerance and the cycle of violence and towards a new beginning of tolerance and a culture of peace.

Those benefits are the products of peace, not devolution.

No I was not suggesting that Wales needs to introduce stability following the cessation of a civil war – there has been no Civil War in Wales, or indeed any of the animosity and violence which have characterised Northern Ireland for decades.

I was referring to the fact that PM drew attention to the huge benefits (largely) which NI has gained from devolution

“But now the progress is there to see, too. You can see it in the skyline of Belfast, with new developments going up in a city previously bypassed by much large scale private investment. Or in the longer-term job prospects of younger people there, notwithstanding the recent difficulties caused by the global downturn. You can see it in the attitudes to the devolved government, where well over 80% of people – in both communities – want their politicians to work together. And in the cross-community support for policing – unimaginable only a few years ago. Perhaps most importantly, of course, you can also see it in the lives of young men and women no longer cut short by violence, as they once were so often.”

and questioned whether Wales would not also benefit from meaningful devolution rather than being ignored by the London government – especially given that we would not have to deal with the huge historical preblems which Norther Ireland faced.

In short I was asking why the author supports devolution within Northern Ireland – where there was a far greater prospect of it going badly – but (is at least widely percieved to) oppose it in Wales.

The benefits PM outlined are the introduction of stability and the cessation of what was, in effect, a civil war.

Presumably you are not arguing these are benefits that need to be introduced to Wales – are you?

Given his wholesome praise for politicians from different parties working together and putting the nation’s interests ahead of their party’s, I’m surprised he hasn’t been more outspoken in his support for the One Wales agreement,

I for one am always interested in NI politics, if a little annoyed that I can’t keep my finger on the pulse as much as I used to, being busy and all that!

But yes, devolving justice was historical for the North of Ireland, and I truly hope that this can be sustained, and that the Assembly can get on with the job of representing the people of the North.

Yes, I really hope that the MLA’s can spend their time doing the small things, like helping constituents with housing or enviornmental concerns as opposed to having to concern themselves with constitutional matters at every juncture.

My mother is from Belfast- moved away to live, to find a life away from the Troubles, so I understand a little bit about how people had to cope with bombs going off, with the threat of violence, with communities divided.

Things are not perfect still, and I’m glad Paul Murphy recognises that. Many communities are still divided, but there are those people working at a grassroots level who I met recently in Belfast, who are working with young people to bring communities together. A lot of that work was about their attitudes towards the murals on the walls, at the end of streets, and how this perpetuates the feelings of mistrust between communities that need not be divided anymore.

On Duncan’s point re learning lessons for the World, I am sure leaders and countries can learn from what has happened in the North of Ireland- from the negatives and positives. Some people may still not have appreciated the external intervention from some quarters i.e the British Government, but those same people respected the intervention of those like George Mitchell and the US administration. Its how it is done that makes the difference. Giving the people of the North of Ireland a say in their future was integral.

I would like to see a united Ireland personally, but as a Welsh Nationalist with Irish blood you would expect me to say that. I was, however, shocked at the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly that I attended in Swansea by the lack of interest by some, (and not all I hasten to add), Irish Republic politicians in the future prospect of a United Ireland.

I felt this lack of enthusiasm previously when I was the Youth organiser for Plaid Cymru, and met some youth members of Fianna Fail. It may be that they want to ignore the issue, or that they are content with the current arrangement, but now that policing and justice has been devolved to the North, you can bet that the United Ireland agenda will not be ignored by some political parties in the future…

It is hugely encouraging that there is now an overwhelming majority very much in favour of the Nationalist and Unionist parties working together in government to deliver stability and security for the people.

Only on this basis can a new civil society settlement and strong economic growth deliver the much needed dividend to people in Northern Ireland.

With the difficult issue of policing now seemingly resolved, this is yet another encouraging milestone in progress towards a lasting peaceful settlement.

I feel the evident success of Northern Ireland has much to offer as an exemplar for resolving tension between communities in other parts of the world, such as the vexatious stand off between Israel and the Palestinian Authorities.

As to Duncan’s suggestion about a special envoy role on the international stage, I agree that Paul would be eminently suitable, given his key role in helping bring Northern Ireland to the threshold of peace.

The extent to which NI can continue to be governed on the basis of an agreement that, while absolutely the right thing to do, essentially institutionalises and legitimises sectarian politics is open to question. I wonder how far off, if ever, we might be from a “GFA mk II” that really does normalise politics, removing the requirement for cross-community consent and relying on simple majority consent. We are, after all, left with a system where political rivals are obliged to work with each other for reasons other than electoral arithmetic.

The other very long term question, I suppose, is what final conclusion there might be to NI’s constitutional status, if any. A fairly senior nationalist once told me that could see a day when it wouldn’t matter whether NI was part of the UK or part of Ireland since the borders would be fully open and the currency and many of the laws would be the same. I’m not sure if that will ever be the case, not least because politics in the south are still, to some extent, conducted on the basis of what happened in the civil war. But it is an interesting perspective nonetheless and it perhaps contains something transferable to the constitutional debate in Wales: what if we get to the point of independence only to discover it doesn’t really make any difference any more?

I have long thought that, in this time of tension with parts of the Islamic world, both within our own communities and beyond our borders, we really need to look to the experiences and events that made peace in Northern Ireland achievable, to see if they can be applied elsewhere. As such, Paul Murphy gets my vote for a critical envoy’s role ahead of Tony Blair. However, knowing Paul slightly, I think there’s a fair chance he would politely decline, fearful that it might overplay his own abilities in this field. The rest of us would probably disagree.