... criticism is the fact that these individuals, namely the secretary of state and his/her junior ministers, being British, will be less familiar with NI affairs and its people. However the counter argument would explain that the secretary of state and his/her Junior ministers have many civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) engaged in extensive consultation with community groupings and the primary political parties and so on, which are consulted before any governmental decisions are made. Also it can be argued that despite Direct rule democracy was present in the form of representation by NI MP's in Westminster. For example in the early days of direct rule NI had 12 MP's representing their interest in the House of Commons. However on the other hand, critics will point out that the House of Commons is made up of over 600 MP's from throughout the United Kingdom which reduces the NI MP's real ...

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