(600 words / condensed from 2000)
What were you doing when you were my age?
...I was working for Enoch Powell who was my local Member of Parliament ... I had qualified as an electrical engineer and within two years I would be elected into the Northern Ireland Assembly...
How did you get to where you are today?
It’s been a long journey ... On the 12th of August 1970 my cousin Samuel ... was the first RUC officer to be murdered by the IRA in what became known as The Troubles. Samuel’s death had a major impact obviously on my family...
...I was elected to Parliament and have been a member of the Assembly here as well for a number of years ... I suppose the driving force behind my political career has been my interest in helping to achieve peace and stability for Northern Ireland ... I so disliked the fact that people were killing each other...
What do you value most in life?
...I value my Christian faith, it is very important to me ... without that Christian faith I don’t think I would be where I am today.
What advice would you give to a young university graduate from Northern Ireland/Ireland?
Your future is in Northern Ireland, consider settling here, by all means go across to England or Scotland ... but come back. Northern Ireland has a great future and our young people are the future. The reason why politically we’ve done what we’ve done ... is because we want that better future for our young people...
Faith has played a significant role in politics in recent weeks, what is your approach to reconciling the two?
... Politics is inevitably about the art of compromise. And yet there are key Christian principles that inform my approach to politics that I believe are very important...
...Words are all very well ... but for me as a Christian the most important thing that I do is the practical help and support that I can give to people...
Have you ever encountered a major difficulty which questioned your capacity or even willingness to lead and serve in the public sphere? If so, how did you overcome that?
...Politics can be a very difficult place to be. It can be challenging, it can be nasty at times, it can be hurtful and yet God has always given me the strength ... to see me through those difficult times...
What has been the hardest decision you have had to make as a public servant?
The decision to negotiate with Sinn Feinn ... And yet I recognised that if we were to move on in Northern Ireland ... then there’s no point in talking to your friends, you have to make peace with your enemy and that meant negotiating with Sinn Feinn ... I believe that it was the right decision in the end.
How do you see the future for Northern Ireland?
...I think there is a great future for Northern Ireland ... we need to work towards breaking down the barriers that exist in Northern Ireland. We need to work towards a society which is not just about politicians doing business in Government, but it’s about people learning to respect each other, to respect diversity...
I believe that you are a Chelsea supporter – commiserations – if Roman Abramovich were to call and he asked you to pick a new boss from here on Stormont, who would you choose and why?
...I think out of all of my colleagues here in the Assembly the person that I would most want to manage Chelsea, because I believe he would be committed to the job, is Peter Robinson.
And he wouldn’t be in it for the money whatsoever?
Absolutely not.
