Postponement of Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2009

First, I warmly welcome the noble Baroness to the Northern Ireland part of her extensive and weighty portfolio; Northern Ireland will benefit from her interest. I would like to speak in the same tone as those noble Lords who have raised questions about how democratic we are actually being here. There is nothing now to be done about this; there are strong reasons why this is occurring, and it is not only supported by the local parties but by the electoral office. The reorganisation of local government has, in a sense, brought us to this point. That having been said, there are real democratic problems with what is happening. I will give just one example to bring this home. Since 2006, there have been five co-options to the Dunmurry ward of Lisburn City Council, two in the case of one party following the tragic death through cancer of Michael Ferguson of Sinn Fein, a former student of mine, who has been replaced twice. The Dunmurry ward now has four co-opted members who have not been in any contact with the electorate. By 2011, there is a fair chance that that ward in that city council will be as unelected—I dare say—as this House. That cannot be good for democracy in Northern Ireland. I am impressed by the way in which so many noble Lords, including the Minister, have said that this is quite exceptional, but we need reassurance that this is not going to drift further. This is an uncomfortable situation for democracy in Northern Ireland; we must hope that we will have a final date to bring this unhappy situation to an end.