Woodward hails 'best possible agreement' for North

The deal to save the North's power-sharing government was the “best possible agreement” for the people of the North, Shaun Woodward said today.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said all parties now had a responsibility to make the agreement to devolve policing and justice powers to Stormont work.

Mr Woodward criticised the Tories for establishing closer links with unionist parties, saying Westminster had to be a “neutral broker” during sensitive negotiations in the North.

Mr Woodward told Sky News’ Sunday Live programme the deal was the latest significant step in the political process.

He said: “At Good Friday people decided to build on the land where they might one day have a house together.

“At St Andrews they actually had the house. But this is the decision to actually move in together, share power, live together, make it work and complete devolution.

“We should be very careful about being cynical, and we should also be very careful about one more thing: this is going to require all the parties in Northern Ireland to come on board.

“I’m very grateful for the support of the Conservative Party, who were out very quickly on Friday to say they supported this agreement.

“But we have got to see all the political parties in Northern Ireland come on board too. I very much hope that all of them will recognise that this is for all the people in Northern Ireland and we’ve all got a responsibility to make this succeed.

“And like all agreements we all have to compromise to make things work. We can’t get everything that we want. But I really do believe this is the best possible agreement for everyone in Northern Ireland.”

The Tories have formed an electoral alliance with the Ulster Unionist Party, fielding joint candidates.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson has also come under fire for hosting secret talks between the DUP and the UUP.

Mr Woodward said: “There’s been a very fine tradition in the House of Commons now for a very long time, begun under John Major, of ensuring that actually there are no differences between the Government and the Opposition.

“We have all got to be very careful of becoming involved in a situation where it is possible for people in Northern Ireland to think that the Government in Westminster has a position towards one particular party rather than another.”

He added: “All of us have got to be absolutely crystal clear that we are the unequivocal neutral broker, that there is no selfish interest for us in Northern Ireland.”