In mid September, when the future of Stormont was looking bleak, the 29-year-old independent unionist MLA Claire Sugden made an impassioned speech.

"This house of cards is falling, and good will come of that only if the jokers at the top come crashing down too and do not get up again," she declared.
The East Londonderry MLA went on to demand a generational change in politics, declaring her belief that "Northern Ireland will only truly move on when the people who were involved in the Troubles are no longer in politics".
She called for the Troubles generation to step aside "and encourage young politicians like Gary Middleton, Steven Agnew, Chris Lyttle, Claire Hanna, Megan Fearon, Sandra Overend and me to be the future of Northern Ireland and these institutions".
By picking MLAs from the DUP, the Greens, Alliance, the SDLP, Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists, Ms Sugden diplomatically avoided appearing to push one party agenda as opposed to another.
But what about her contention that politics will be transformed if only the old guard moves on?
Logically, it might seem that those who did not live through the worst years of the Troubles will, by definition, have a different perspective from those who did.
However, it would be wrong to assume too much.
Certainly when I spent a day with Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin back in 2011 after he became Belfast's youngest mayor, I came away with the impression that he was every bit as much a committed Irish republican as his parents, both of whom had spent time in jail for IRA offences.
Is Stormont's problem a generation of people, or is it the historic circumstances in which they find themselves and the unwieldy power-sharing system they have to operate?
It's one of those chicken and egg type questions - easy to ponder, rather more difficult to answer for certain.
This week two young local politicians were in the headlines.
Colum Eastwood, 32, put himself forward as the candidate for a "new generation" when launching his bid to prise the SDLP leadership from Alasdair McDonnell.
Emma Pengelly, 35, made the move across from special advisor to become the new DUP MLA for South Belfast.
Accepting her appointment, Mrs Pengelly said she wanted to focus on bread and butter issues.
She acknowledged that Stormont was often a "difficult forum" but argued that whilst the "orange and green issues" often didn't get agreed, progress had been made on initiatives related to education, health and social deprivation that could change people's lives.
Perhaps these are the areas a younger generation will concentrate more on.
But both this week's rising young stars remain children of the Troubles.
In the Belfast Telegraph, Emma Pengelly talked about her family home being damaged by a bomb in Markethill in 1991.
Like Niall Ó Donnghaile, Mrs Pengelly has a family link to the conflict - her father is Noel Little, one of the 'Paris Three' who were arrested in the 1980s for arms trafficking for the loyalist Ulster Resistance group.
Meanwhile, as he concentrates on the future, Colum Eastwood faces questions about his decision back in 2012 to carry the coffin of a friend, Seamus Coyle, who was a former member of the Official IRA and the INLA.
Maybe we will see a generational shift. But the Troubles cast a long shadow and any change in politics is likely to be incremental, rather than Stormont wiping the slate clean.


A review of care for acutely sick patients in Wales will be launched in the New Year, BBC Wales has learned.

It comes after the public service ombudsman for Wales raised concerns over a series of complaints about failings in weekend care at Welsh hospitals.
Nick Bennett said action was "urgently needed" to ensure safe out-of-hours care.
The Welsh Government said a peer review programme would look at the issue.
The announcement came on Thursday, after the publication of a highly critical ombudsman's investigation into the care of a 93-year-old man who died three days after being admitted to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital in December 2014.
The report found the man - referred to as Mr Y - was not seen by a doctor for more than six hours on a Sunday, the day before his death.
That was despite concerns about his deteriorating health, with guidelines indicating he should have been medically reviewed within 30 minutes.
The ombudsman also found nurses failed to escalate concerns about the delay, meaning antibiotics were not given "in a timely manner".
Mr Y, who was admitted with severe constipation, was also treated on an "unsuitable" orthopaedic ward and had an "undignified end of life".
The report said the ombudsman "could not be certain whether earlier intervention might have led to a different outcome".
Mr Bennett also raised concerns about the decision to keep Mr Y in hospital, where there was a greater risk of infection, despite him having "a full care package" at home.
The ombudsman said the case was an example of "an appalling lack of weekend care".
A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan Health Board, which runs the hospital, said: "Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Y and we are writing to them to unreservedly apologise for the failings identified in the ombudsman for Wales report."
It has accepted the report's findings and recommendations, which include ensuring procedures are in place to monitor patients' blood glucose levels, ensuring staff properly manage swallowing problems and making sure patients are seen by a doctor "within appropriate timescales".
It was also ordered to pay Mr Y's daughter Â£2,000 for the "distress and uncertainty" she had suffered.
The health board said it was finalising an action plan to meet further recommendations, such as reminding staff of appropriate procedures and addressing training needs.
"We are committed to learning from concerns raised about our services to further improve the care we offer to our patients and we deeply regret the failings in the care of Mr Y," the spokesman said.
However, the ombudsman said he continued to be concerned by the volume of complaints about out-of-hours care.
In March, he called for a "systemic review of out-of-hours hospital care", after publishing a report which highlighted 12 cases over five years he said had shown "inadequate standards of care" given to patients, including at weekends.
At the time, he said these cases were not typical but a pattern suggested they were also not "one-off" incidents.
"When we published that report, we were told that our methodology was flawed - that the problem had somehow gone away," he said. "The issues are still coming to my door."
Mr Bennett said he was "delighted" the Welsh Government had agreed to launch a review.
Announcing the move, a spokesman said: "Numerous discussions have been ongoing with the public service ombudsman for Wales and a way forward has been agreed. This will take the form of a peer review programme which will look specifically at acutely sick patients.  This work will be underway in the new year."
A draft document seen by the BBC, which makes the case for the review, said "unrecognised and untreated acute deterioration" had long been recognised as the cause of a "significant amount of avoidable harm and death in hospitals".
However, it said quantification of this had so far been "difficult and problematic".


Derry City bowed out of the FAI Cup at the opening stage as Dundalk clinched a comprehensive 4-0 win at Oriel Park.

The Candystripes never really recovered from John Mountney's first-minute goal.
Michael Duffy hit the Derry woodwork before half-time and also went close on a couple of other occasions as he and Patrick McEleney both excelled.
David McMillan doubled Dundalk's lead from a 51st-minute penalty and Mourtney looped in the third on 81 before Duffy's late strike.
McMillan's penalty came after he was hauled down in the area by Dean Jarvis while Mountney's 81st-minute goal followed a defensive mistake by Darren Cole.
Derry did threaten on a couple of occasions with Aaron McEneff hitting the crossbar three minutes before half-time when the scoreline was only 1-0.
Barry McNamee missed another Derry chance shortly after the restart after being played in by Rory Patterson but Dundalk should probably have been out of sight before both those Candystripes opportunities.
Ronan Curtis started for Derry after his proposed move from Swedish club Ostersund fell through on Thursday because of his failure to agree terms.
However, the striker made little impression and was replaced midway through the second half.
Former Derry player Duffy tormented Lukas Schubert as the Candystripes badly missed the absent Conor McDermott.


David Cameron has been praised for taking on the issues of corruption and tax transparency but pressure groups are warning he must put his own house in order first, writes Naomi Grimley.

The prime minister has ensured his anti-corruption summit this week has already started generating headlines following his apparently unguarded remarks to the Queen that the leaders of some "fantastically corrupt" countries - Nigeria and Afghanistan - will be attending.
Leaving aside the inevitable questions about his diplomatic skills, this is perhaps a good moment to take a look at a subject that has become close to his heart since he took office.
Indeed, if it had not been for the inconvenient fact that details of his late father's business affairs appeared in the cache of documents leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, David Cameron could have taken some satisfaction at the revelations in the so-called Panama Papers last month.
After all, it was a good 10 months ago that he got to his feet in Singapore to argue that the more secretive parts of the world's financial system needed to be reformed. He told his audience about his own fears that ill-gotten gains were being stashed away in London without proper scrutiny.
"With Â£122bn of property in England and Wales owned by offshore companies, we know that some high-value properties - particularly in London - are being bought by people overseas through anonymous shell companies, some of them with plundered or laundered cash," he admitted.
Thursday's summit is the first of its kind for years. Guests will include US Secretary of State John Kerry and the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
On Thursday, 12 May, David Cameron will host an international anti-corruption summit - the first of its kind. Political leaders, businesses, sporting organisations and charities will meet at Lancaster House. The government says the summit aims to agree a package of practical steps to:
Cameron pledges to tackle corruption
Should the corrupt be banned from first-class travel?
It has been in the pipeline for a while, which is why Dame Margaret Hodge was one of the opposition MPs who praised the prime minister's "leadership" on the issue in a special Commons debate last week. But she, like many transparency campaigners, is worried whether anything concrete will come out of this gathering.
The prime minister was converted to the cause of tackling corruption by the man he calls his global "guru", Prof Paul Collier from Oxford University.
Prof Collier has long insisted that a lack of transparency holds back developing countries by stunting their tax base and repelling new business. He's used the rather colourful analogy of anonymous shell companies - set up in tax havens - being like "getaway cars" for the world's criminal and corrupt.
Next month, Britain itself will bring in a new public register of beneficial ownership - meaning that anybody will soon be able to see who really owns each company in the UK. David Cameron argues only about three other countries in the world have bothered to do this and he is proud of the achievement.
The big problem for the prime minister is that the British overseas territories are not going as far as he would like in their transparency. Crucially, their registers will not be public ones - rather, they will be private and only available to law enforcement agencies in the UK.
The Panama Papers scandal has thrown the issue into sharp relief because more than half of the offshore companies featured in the released documents were, in fact, registered in UK overseas territories like the British Virgin Islands. Transparency International calls it the "Achilles heel" in the prime minister's crusade.
Last month, the Premier of the Cayman Islands, Alden McLaughlin, argued that any register in his jurisdiction "certainly will not be available publicly or available directly by any UK or non-Cayman Islands agency".
Jeremy Corbyn has questioned whether the prime minister can declare his anti-corruption plans a success if the Cayman Islands are "celebrating" in this way.
Already, the heat is being turned up on Mr Cameron from other quarters too. A group of 300 economists this week demanded that the "veil of secrecy" surrounding tax havens should be lifted.
A collection of Nigerian civil society groups has also sent a pointed letter to Number 10. It read: "It is ironic that the countries that pride themselves on their own lack of corruption are the very ones providing most of the corruption services to our corrupt officials."
Sarah Chayes, author of a book on global corruption called Thieves of State, still insists Mr Cameron has shown courage for holding the conference at all.
"There was no way he could have convened a summit about the issue of corruption in London without the particular role of the London property market, the City, and British overseas territories in servicing this type of corruption being highlighted. That way, you were guaranteed to put yourself under the spotlight," she told me.
But compliments about his courage could turn into accusations of hypocrisy if David Cameron is not able to persuade the overseas territories to do more on transparency.
Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) believe that when David Cameron leaves office he will make this issue a major theme of his post-premiership years. A lot could ride, then, on whether this summit can deliver the change the prime minister himself wants to see.


The price of oil fell to its lowest level since 2009 as global production continues to remain high.

The price of West Texas crude sank to $37.65 (Â£24.99) a barrel, a drop of 5.8%, while Brent Crude fell 5.3% to $40.73 a barrel.
The slumping price comes as OPEC - a group of the largest oil producing nations- refused to cut oil production.
OPEC- whose production covers about 30% of the world's oil demand - met in Vienna last week to discuss production.
The group has faced growing competition from new supplies, including in the US where techniques like fracking are used to tap previously hard-to-reach oil reserves.
"The decision by OPEC members to keep oil production output at record high levels has seen oil prices plummet again," said Sanjiv Shah, chief investment officer of Sun Global Investments.
The group had traditionally kept a tight rein on oil production to regulate price, but announced last Friday it will continue to pump out approximately 31.5 million barrels of oil a day, going past the group's former 30 million barrel target.
In 2014 Saudi Arabia led OPEC in a decision to keep output high to defend its market share.


The leader of the Irish Labour party, Joan Burton, is to stand down after the party's poor performance in February's general election.

The party went from 37 DÃ¡il (Irish parliament) seats in 2011 to just seven.
Ms Burton was TÃ¡naiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Social Protection in the last government.
She took over from Eamon Gilmore, two years ago, but will stay on until her successor is chosen.
The front runner is Brendan Howlin, from Wexford, who is the former Minister for Public Expenditure.
But it is understood that he only wants the job of Labour leader if he is the unanimous choice.
Other possible candidates include Alan Kelly, the former environment minister, and Sean Sherlock, a junior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs who was involved in the Fresh Start Agreement talks in Northern Ireland.
If there is a contest it could be late August before the outcome is known.


Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday has urged his title-winning team-mates to push Glasgow rivals Celtic for the Scottish Premiership crown next season.

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James Tavernier scored the only goal to beat Dumbarton at Ibrox on Tuesday and seal promotion from the Championship.
"We've got to be challenging for the title," said Halliday. "That's not me being arrogant or disrespectful to Celtic at all.
"You can't be at a club like this and be happy with second."
Tuesday's victory took Rangers to an uncatchable 79 points with four matches left and completed a four-year journey from the bottom division to the Scottish top flight.
With the club mired in debt, Rangers entered administration and then liquidation in 2012 under the ownership of Craig Whyte - who has since faced criminal charges over his stewardship at Ibrox - and had to re-enter the Scottish football pyramid in the fourth tier.
"It is an incredible achievement," added Halliday, 24. "Obviously it was our main goal since the start of the season.
"We feel we have been top of the season since day one of pre-season and have only been going one way - and that is forward.
"Now it's full steam ahead to the end of the season because we still have a lot of big games and then in to the Premiership, back where we belong.
"We are getting better and better."
Rangers manager Mark Warburton, who has seen his team lose just three league games all season, wants to finish the campaign in style with further silverware up for grabs.
"It is the first step and the worst thing we can do is stop moving forward," said Warburton, who became the first Englishman to manage the club when he succeeded Stuart McCall in June last year.
"We want to hit 91 points. We want to win the league in style, convincingly and get momentum for next season."
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The Light Blues will now prepare for life in the Premiership although first they have next week's Challenge Cup final against Peterhead at Hampden, followed by a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at the national stadium, before they finish their league season.
"Enjoy the good times, we have a big game on Sunday - a packed Hampden with 95% Rangers fans - hopefully we will perform well and win the trophy and play well the following week," added Warburton.
"We didn't want to limp over the line, rely on someone else losing a game.
"The pressure is always there at Rangers and if we drop our standards we will get hurt."
Hibernian head coach Alan Stubbs, whose side had drawn level with Warburton's men at the Championship summit before losing 4-2 at Ibrox in late December, congratulated the league winners.
"Congratulations to Rangers," he told BBC Scotland after his team defeated Livingston 2-1. "They have been the most consistent team over the season."


Jeremy Corbyn's "hard left" campaign to be Labour leader has been rejected by former first minister Rhodri Morgan as "nothing to do" with his own "clear red water" policies for Wales.

Mr Morgan had used the phrase to distinguish his "classic Labour" stance from the more centrist approach of then Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He told BBC Radio Wales Yvette Cooper had the "strength" to be Labour leader.
Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall are also standing in the leadership contest.
Campaigning in Wales on Tuesday, Mr Corbyn said he had admired Mr Morgan's record as first minister and hoped that he could "narrow the red water" between Welsh Labour and the UK party.
However, Mr Morgan told BBC Radio Wales on Friday that, although they had both been critical of Mr Blair, the leadership contender was "not in the same place as me".
"There's a massive gap between what you could call Corbynism and Blairism, and I attempted to fill that gap with what I call classic Labour," Mr Morgan said.
"He's not classic Labour - he's old, hard left Labour, so it's got nothing to do with my clear red water speech at all."
Mr Morgan said he backed Yvette Cooper for the Labour leadership, saying: "She's got the strength and she's got the capability.
"Sometimes people can be wonderful prime ministers but they can't get there because they're not that wonderful as campaigners ... they don't have that sense of mission in them.
"Jeremy Corbyn has certainly got the sense of mission but I'm sure he doesn't envisage himself as a prime minister - and that's the paradox."
Ms Cooper was visiting Wales on Friday to meet Labour members in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, which Mr Corbyn visited on Monday.


BBC world affairs correspondent Peter Biles has been talking to his father, Harold, about his recollections of the Dunkirk evacuation.

For 70 years, my father has lived with the shame of what happened to his ship, HMS Hebe, in June 1940.
During the evacuation of Dunkirk, he was the chief engine room artificer on board the Hebe, a minesweeper deployed to Dover as a control vessel.
The Hebe crossed the Channel to Dunkirk three times during those chaotic days between 27 May and 4 June.
"It was torrid, dangerous and nerve-wracking with all-day long German air attacks", says Harold Biles who marked his 28th birthday during the height of the bombardment.
"The Hebe was lying about 200 metres off the beach at Dunkirk, and there was just a seething mass of soldiers. All we knew was that we were on the water, they were on the beach and were trying to get to us.
"There was constant bombing and shellfire.  We just used to wait for nightfall when there was a relaxation, and we could perhaps get some sleep."
In the early hours of 29 May 1940, the captain of HMS Hebe sent a gig ashore to the beach at Dunkirk. It was to collect Lord John Gort, the commander-in- chief of the British Expeditionary Force and take him to England.
"As we sped back to Dover, I remember seeing Lord Gort standing in the waist of the ship, holding the guardrail to offset the rise and swell of the waves. He was resplendent in his red-trimmed uniform, but he was motionless, with his head sunk to his chest".
"It was not for him to receive any acclaim for the evacuation of some 330,000 men and saving them from Nazi POW camps. In his eyes, there was only defeat. He had lost an army."
The German bombardment, the trauma and the fatigue were taking a toll on the crew of HMS Hebe, and no doubt other ships involved in the evacuation.
My father describes how on the morning of 1 June, he witnessed the first signs of what we now know to be post-traumatic stress, but in those days was sometimes referred to as a "lack of moral fibre".
"We were embarking more stores and ammunition back in Dover. An RAF plane flying low overhead was the starting point. A seaman looked up, screamed and fell into convulsions with hysteria. It was contagious and he was joined by three or four others.
"Later in the day an order was issued, amazing and ill judged. Anybody feeling the stress of the last week was told to leave the ship and assemble on the dockside in preparation for going to hospital.
"About 20 men left the ship and I can still see their grins as they trooped over the gangway. The majority were malingerers but in fairness, the prospect of that final trip was frightening as the Germans were almost on the French beaches."
The captain of the Hebe sent for Harold Biles as the Chief Engineer, and the Coxswain.
"We both had to tell him that the ship was so depleted of crew that a further sailing was impossible. And so we remained alongside while other craft made the trip, some never to return."
To my father's dismay, HMS Hebe played no further part in Operation Dynamo.
"This was the greatest blow which sometimes I feel to this day," he says, on the eve of his 98th birthday.


Plans for a £250m electricity inter-connector across the Irish border will take a step closer later.

The Republic of Ireland's power grid operator EirGrid is to submit a planning application for the long-delayed scheme.
It has already said overhead lines are the most cost-effective option for what will be a second connection between the two networks.
They will join between Woodland, County Meath, and Turleenan, County Tyrone.
Environmental and health campaigners had wanted the cables placed underground.
Exact details of the application, to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála, will not be disclosed until a ten-week public consultation process starts on 16 June.
The project, which will take three years to complete, was meant to have been ready by 2017.
EirGrid is submitting the application for the southern half of the project.
In Northern Ireland, the lead is being taken by System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) and a separate planning application is before the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC).
But its public inquiry was adjourned several years ago pending the submission of detailed environmental information that has only recently been provided.
In a statement, the Department of the Environment said: "The information will be advertised in the local press, giving the public opportunity to make comment."
It will also consult with public bodies before requesting that the PAC resumes the inquiry.
But a timetable has yet to be set.
The inter-connector project has three purposes - to deliver security of electricity supply to Northern Ireland, reduce costs to consumers and help achieve targets on renewable energy.


Edinburgh taxpayers are now being asked to meet some legal costs of officials who were responsible for what went wrong with the capital's tram project.

Edinburgh city council is to spend up to £2m participating in the public inquiry into the capital's tram fiasco.
Some will be spent on legal costs of ex councillors and staff who were in charge when it was hit by delays.
The council has refused a request from inquiry chairman Lord Hardie to revive its arm's length transport firm Tie.
It said that would have increased its costs to £4m.
Lesley Hinds, Edinburgh City Council's transport convener, said: "I feel it is morally the right thing to do and yes, while, I may have criticised some of the individuals at the end of the day, they are entitled to have some independent legal costs to give them some legal advice and support because at the time they were employees or elected members of the city centre."
Andrew Burns, the council's leader, said: "The council continues to support the inquiry, as it has done so throughout, and to be fully open and accountable.
"By applying to be a core participant we have committed to playing our part in the proceedings and co-operating fully with the inquiry.
"However, we do not believe the considerable cost of reviving for the sake of the inquiry is a justifiable expense, one which would ultimately be borne by the Edinburgh taxpayer.
"The council is the ultimate parent body of Tie, and we have communicated our willingness to provide information about its role to the inquiry."
The trams began operating on 31 May last year after six years of disruption and cost increases.
Alex Salmond, who was first minister at the time, announced there would be an inquiry into the project in June 2014, and it has since been awarded statutory powers to compel witnesses to participate.
A preliminary hearing will be held on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the inquiry said there would be no comment on the council's decision ahead of the hearing.


It is sometimes difficult to remember that it has been six months since 12 January.

Many Haitians, when they speak of the earthquake, refer only to "before". Before they lost, in 35 seconds, so much - friends, family, homes, schools, churches and their visions of the future.
What happened here on 12 January was a disaster of a magnitude that would have set any country reeling.
More than 222,570 people have died, 300,572 were injured and at one point a staggering 2.3 million - nearly one quarter of the population - were displaced.
The government lost thousands of civil servants and most of its key infrastructure was destroyed.
In all, 101 United Nations colleagues perished and many more suffered terrible personal losses, as did many of our colleagues in other humanitarian organisations.
Nevertheless, in desperately difficult circumstances, one of the largest humanitarian operations of its kind was mounted.
That response delivered basic shelter to survivors, fed 4.3 million people, installed latrines and vaccinated more than  900,000 people against communicable disease.
Today, humanitarian needs are still acute.
More than 1,300 camps remain, housing 1.5 million people. The response here delivers water to 1.2 million people daily, maintains 11,000 latrines and ensures that basic medical healthcare is free for all survivors.
Mass starvation was averted and perhaps most significantly there has been no outbreak of disease in the camps.
The operation just to take care of humanitarian needs on a daily basis is enormous. But while we do this, there are other challenges too.
The hurricane season is beginning and we must move quickly to protect people as best we can. This work is under way, but time is short.  And we must, of course, work to ensure a better long-term future, not just for survivors in the most affected areas but throughout the country.
The tragedy of Haiti is that poverty levels here were so deep before the January 2010 quake that even the basic support offered to those living in camps is more than many had before.
But we must also not forget that before this tragedy Haiti was making real progress with a stable, democratically elected government, falling crime levels, and upward trends in nutrition levels.
The real disaster for Haiti would be to allow this natural disaster to undo the progress of past years.
Ordinary Haitians have been clear about their priorities - an income to get their lives back together, education for their children so they have a stake in their country's future, and housing where their families are safe.
Haiti: Aid effort six months on
We as a humanitarian community must help all 1.5 million survivors in the camps find ways to leave, while making sure that those who have no choice but to stay for some time also receive assistance.
We must get people working as fast as possible. Again and again people in the camps tell us that if they can work they can take charge of their own recovery.
Haitians must see tangible evidence of progress.
We must keep putting up transitional shelter as fast as we can and scale up rubble removal from the streets. The rubble was put in the streets by Haitians clearing their destroyed homes and businesses, but it now blocks access and rebuilding efforts.
We must continue to prevent disease.
We must help the government become better able to lead the extremely complex task of reconstruction and ensure all Haitians have a chance to shape their future. Continued weak governance is not an option.
If Haiti is to experience this national transformation, it will require strong political leadership and an international community aligned with national priorities. It also needs sustained funding from donors backed up by measurable progress and regular information outreach - Haitians need to know what is happening and what to expect.
Many people around the world gave generously to Haiti and we thank them profusely - none of what we do would be possible without their support, and we take the custodianship of that funding and the responsibility that it brings extremely seriously.
We must lay the foundations now for transformation of Haiti on a huge scale - of the rural economy, of more equitable country-wide development and social service delivery, of government capacity at national and local levels.
This work has already begun but will be extremely complex and will take a long time - we are talking of at least a generation.
We have seen extraordinary strength as ordinary Haitians cope with appalling suffering - with dignity, calm and a truly humbling willingness to help each other regardless of how little they have.
We must recommit ourselves now to our role in supporting them as they and their government struggle to build a brighter future together.
We have to stay the course with Haiti.


The £150m casino and shopping complex Resorts World has opened, hoping to turn Birmingham into a global holiday destination.

The 12-storey, 538,000 sq ft (50,000 sq m) building is based on the shape of a cruise ship and houses 18 bars and restaurants, 50 outlet shops, a cinema, casino, spa and hotel.
Built on the NEC site, it sits next to the Genting Arena gig venue.
The resort is opening gradually, with shops trading from Wednesday.
An 11-screen Imax cinema opens on Friday, and the casino and night-time bars will open on Monday.
Birmingham or Bahamas: How does Resorts World compare?
Operations manager Barry Clemo claimed the resort will appeal to shoppers, concertgoers and casino players.
The resort is the first of its type in the UK, according to Mr Clemo, in that visitors will not have to leave the building.
He said it was aimed at people "too young to sit at home watching telly, and too old to push through the crowds in the city centre".
The resort, which will employ 1,200 staff, can accommodate about 12,000 people at any one time.


The independents have won control of Merthyr Tydfil council.

An election for three seats in the Cyfarthfa ward was held on Thursday, after the original poll in May was postponed because of the death of a candidate.
The group had already been ahead by 16 seats to Labour's 14 seats after the local elections last month.
A meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday ahead of the council AGM next Wednesday.
Independents Geraint Thomas and Paul Brown topped the ward poll, with Labour's David Chaplin winning the third seat, taking the final make-up of the council to 18 seats to 15.
Labour lost control on 5 May, including council leader Brendan Toomey, who was defeated by Independent Patricia Skinner.


US tourist sites including the Grand Canyon and Statue of Liberty are reopening after state officials reached deals with the federal government.

Arizona and New York will fund the attractions from their own budgets, and are unlikely to be reimbursed.
Other states are now weighing up whether they can justify the outlay of cash to keep their parks open.
The tourist sites closed after Congress failed to agree a budget, forcing many government services to shut down.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo described the Statue of Liberty as an "international symbol of freedom" and promised he would not allow "dysfunction" in Washington to keep it closed.
New York will have to pay out about $60,000 (Â£37,000) a day to keep the Statue of Liberty open.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said: "I'm gratified the Obama administration agreed to reverse its policy and allow Arizona to reopen Grand Canyon, Arizona's most treasured landmark and a crucial driver of revenue to the state."
Arizona will pay almost $100,000 a day to keep the Grand Canyon open, initially for the next seven days.
Analysts estimate that the Canyon brings in roughly 18,000 visitors each day during the current peak season, and revenue of roughly $1m.
Elsewhere, South Dakota worked out a deal with corporate donors and the National Park Service to reopen Mount Rushmore on Monday.
And Utah and Colorado have also reached deals to keep their parks open.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement the states had found a "practical and temporary solution" that would "lessen the pain for some businesses and communities".
The partial government shutdown, which has sent home hundreds of thousands of government workers on unpaid leave, began on 1 October.
Republicans have refused to pass a new budget unless President Barack Obama agrees to delay or eliminate the funding of the healthcare reform law of 2010.
The White House has repeatedly said it would not undermine the law, known as Obamacare, nor negotiate over larger budget matters, until Republicans vote to end the threat of default.
Officials say about 15,000 workers in the private sector have already been laid off as a result of the shutdown.
As the well as the shutdown, the US is heading towards default if it does not raise its debt limit by 17 October.
After the latest talks on the crisis in Washington, President Obama's spokesman said he was willing to sign a "clean" short-term increase to the US borrowing limit that is free from Republican budget and policy demands.
"If the Congress were to pass a clean debt ceiling of short duration to avoid default, the president would sign that," Mr Carney said, following rounds of talks among Mr Obama and Senate and House Republicans.
But Mr Carney reiterated the White House would not accept a debt ceiling rise with conditions attached, saying the right thing to do was to "remove that gun from the table".


Trainer fans who camped out for four days have finally got their hands on a pair of limited edition Kanye West sneakers.

The devoted "sneakerheads" spent Â£150 on each pair of Adidas Yeezy Boost trainers but some were expected to re-sell them for up to Â£500.
The camp was set up outside Nottingham's 18Montrose shop, the only one to release them without a raffle.
The shop said it sold out of its 90 pairs in just more than an hour.
The fans brought tents, chairs and sleeping bags for the four-day wait.
Ben Rutter, 17, who had travelled from Manchester with friends to get his place in the queue, said: "We've been out here for a day or something.  It's been all right - I've got a high body temperature."
Up to 200 shoppers were queuing outside the shop on Saturday morning for a chance to purchase the mainly black footwear.
One sneaker fan, Ammo, 19, from London said: "I come from London and it is quite hectic there when it comes to releases like this so we have to leave London to get a chance to get them in-store.
"Otherwise we have to sign up to a raffle for a chance to get one."
Zaheed, from Birmingham, said: "I think there are only about 19,000 pairs released worldwide so obviously everybody is going to try to come and pick up their first pair."


Four people arrested after jump jockey Aidan Coleman was allegedly punched by racegoers will face no charges.

Coleman, 27, suffered minor injuries, including two chipped teeth, when two people burst into the riders' changing room on 29 September.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police told BBC Sport that no further action would be taken.
It is understood Irish rider Coleman was happy to put the matter behind him, regarding the incident as a one-off.
Two men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of assault and damage, and another woman for obstructing police.
Coleman is second in the jump jockeys' championship, with 84 wins this season, behind Richard Johnson, who has 131 victories.
At the time of the Southwell incident, Coleman's agent Sam Stronge said: "Some lads had seemingly had too much to drink, got a bit rowdy and then broke into the weighing room.
"Aidan was just unlucky - he was the first person they saw and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"It wasn't anything to do with racing and nothing was said beforehand between any of them."


First Minister Carwyn Jones says he is confident his trade mission to America will yield results for Wales' economy.

His four-day trip begins in Washington where he will meet business leaders to promote Wales as a place to invest in and visit.
Mr Jones will also visit New York - the city where Dylan Thomas died - to encourage tourism linked to the poet.
Asked if the trip was a "jolly", he said it was no "holiday" and ministers had to travel to "sell Wales".
In Washington, Mr Jones will visit Congress, where he will address a group of 200 people with an interest in Wales set up by members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
He said the reception would be a "great way to raise awareness about Wales in Washington".
Asked about the four day trip, he said: "I've got nine hours on a plane, straight out and straight into a two-hour event where I've got to speak and meet 200 people, so it's not much of a holiday, and then it's usually 12, 13 hours a day after that."
He added: "It's all part of the job. We have to make sure that we go out and sell Wales. No-one else will do it for us."
The value of trade trips has previously been questioned by opposition parties, but Mr Jones continues to defend foreign trade missions.
"I went to India and came back with Â£800m as an investment, which came as a pleasant surprise to us in many, many ways.
"These visits, sometimes you get a short-term gain but also of course it's about building up that relationship over time, and that's what's served us well in terms of bringing investment into Wales."
He said direct foreign investment into Wales had doubled and "that's the sort of result we want to see next year and the year after".
Mr Jones added: "You have to talk to people. Pinewood [studios] didn't come here at the drop of a hat- we've been talking to them for a long time.
"It's the same with other potential investors around the world."
The first minister said he was "sure" significant announcements and launches would be made during his visit.
The second half of Mr Jones's trip, visiting New York, will take a more cultural turn, including the promotion of events surrounding the Dylan Thomas centenary.
William Graham, the Welsh Conservatives' shadow business minister, said: "The first minister must be mindful of accusations of globe-trotting at the taxpayers' expense and ensure that this trip is productive and results in gains for Welsh businesses.
"Trade missions and trade trips are an important way of securing lucrative contracts for Welsh businesses, but we need to see evidence that the Welsh government is actually making a positive difference."


Ireland clinched a 56-52 victory in Saturday's International Rules Test at Croke Park as Australia's late brave fight-back came up just short.

An early six-point goal by Aidan O'Shea helped Ireland lead 12-3 and they were 21-13 ahead after the first quarter.
A further O'Shea goal and successful Conor McManus penalty extended Ireland's lead to 43-23 at half-time.
However, Ireland lost their way in the final two quarters and a late Eddie Betts goal left the Irish hanging on.
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Joe Kernan's Irish side appeared to make the mistake of opting to go defensive in the second half of the game.
With the hitherto subdued Nick Riewoldt becoming a factor in the game, the Aussies began to finally play with fluency and the visitors will probably feel they should have won the game after squandering a number of goal opportunities.
In front of 38,386 spectators at GAA headquarters, Ireland make a fast start with O'Shea fly-kicking in his first goal to the roof of the net in the third minute after the Aussie defence had failed to deal with a diagonal ball from McManus.
The visitors's defence continued to be all at sea during the remainder of the first quarter with Diarmuid Connolly, McManus, O'Shea and captain Bernard Brogan (twice) knocking over three-point overs.
Australia did cut Ireland's advantage to 21-13 by the end of the first period but more sloppy defending gifted Mayo star O'Shea his second goal three minutes after the restart.
Ireland's third and final six-pointer came late in the second period as McManus coolly slotted a penalty after Donegal's Paddy McBrearty had been fouled before palming the ball to the net.
Leading 43-23 at the half-way point, Ireland appeared to change their tactics in the third quarter.
Whatever led to the change in the flow of game, Irish energy levels dropped and seven successive points from Riewoldt helped reduce the home team's advantage to 50-39 by the end of the third quarter.
As Ireland continued to run out of steam, they only managed to score five points in the final quartet but crucially, Betts's goal didn't come until three minutes from time.
The Aussie six-pointer cut Ireland lead to 55-49 and was quickly followed by another three points from Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray.
However, time then ran out for the visitors as Irish skipper Brogan kicked the final point of the game before lifting the Cormac McAnallen Trophy.


Twelve people have been arrested after police received reports of assault and criminal damage involving a large group of masked men in Brighton.

Sussex Police said the arrests were made in London Road in connection with an anti-immigration demonstration in nearby Ship Street at 09:27 BST.
About 400 rival pro-refugee demonstrators met at Brighton station and marched to the seafront.
Anti-fascists also confronted a group attending a Great Skinhead Reunion.
BBC South East correspondent tweeted the march had ended back at the station, where all was calm.
Police said officers had enforced Section 60AA of the Public Order Act, which gives them the right to remove people's face masks if they are felt likely to be involved in criminal activity or violence and to be concealing their identity.
"We're confident that having made a number of arrests at such an early stage, we have significantly reduced the risk of disruption and disorder in the town centre," said Ch Supt Nev Kemp.
"Unfortunately, whilst the vast majority of demonstrators act peacefully, a small minority appear to have come with the intention to cause problems."
The 12 men were arrested on suspicion of breach of peace and remain in police custody.
Police said on Thursday they were aware of demonstrations being advertised on social media but no group had notified them of the event.


Egyptian security forces are using sexual violence against detainees on a massive scale, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

A report by the organisation suggests men, women and children are being abused "to eliminate public protest".
Many are subjected to virginity tests, rape and gang rape after arrest.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said it would not comment until it had studied the report.
The study notes a surge in sexual violence after the Egyptian military takeover in July 2013.
The perpetrators are rarely held to account and the impunity points to a "cynical political strategy aimed at silencing all opposition".
Police, intelligence officers and members of the military are guilty of targeting male and female detainees, according to the report.
Among the victims are student demonstrators, human rights activists, gay people and children.
Student's ordeal
I saw an officer who was grabbing a young woman by the breasts and I said to him: "If you want to arrest her, then arrest her, but you have no right to touch her breasts."
He grabbed me exactly as he had her, before calling two other police officers to come and hold me. They beat me, insulted me.
In the van they insulted me and beat me so much that I could no longer stand up. Two soldiers started to sexually assault me.
The officer from the start got into the van and said to me: "Come here I'm going to show you if I'm a man." He sexually assaulted me, the soldiers laughed, and then he raped me completely. I was paralysed, I started to vomit blood.
My life is ruined. I'm afraid of my son, my husband and even my father.
The authors said they did not have evidence that commanders were giving the orders, but the scale of the violence - and the impunity - suggested there was a political strategy.
They claim that victims who file complaints are systematically obstructed by the justice system, and face threats and reprisals by police officers and prison guards.
Sexual violence has long been a problem within the general population in Egypt, with assaults dramatically increasing in the years since Hosni Mubarak was removed from power.
Last year, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi ordered police to launch a crackdown amid growing public anger.
He said sexual assaults, were "an unacceptable form of conduct" and called for citizens to "reinstate moral values in society".


Doncaster Rovers assistant manager Brian Horton says it is unfair that British managers and coaches are being overlooked in favour of foreign ones.

Horton was appointed by Scot Paul Dickov, who joined the Championship club after three years at Oldham.
But only half of the managers at the 20 Premier League sides are British.
"The coaching system and football [in Britain] is the best in the world. We are bypassing a lot of good managers," Horton told BBC Radio Sheffield.
Brighton: Oscar Garcia (Spanish)
Middlesbrough: Aitor Karanka (Spanish)
Watford: Giuseppe Sannino (Italian)
Wigan: Uwe Rosler (German)
Horton was appointed as Manchester City manager in the 1993-94 season, when a 22-team top-flight had just one foreign manager - Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham.
This season in the Championship, Middlesbrough have appointed Spaniard Aitor Karanka,Wigan opted for German Uwe Rosler, while Watford chose Italian Giuseppe Sannino to succeed Gianfranco Zola.
Horton, 64, is concerned that chairmen are looking at managers and coaches from abroad, when Brits are capable of filling the roles.
"I am not against foreign people coming in, but are they better than ours?" he asked.
"Are they better players, are they better managers? There are a lot of good English managers out of work. There are a lot of first-time managers who don't come back. I find it hard to take.
"If it is Pep Guardiola or Manuel Pellegrini, you can't argue with that. They are top managers, but sometimes they [the chairmen] are giving foreign managers the heads up over our young coaches."
"They do their coaching badges, go through the process to get their pro-licenses, and they can't get a job.
"They should be given a chance, rather than the foreign managers that are coming in."
Horton had spells as manager at Hull, Oxford and Huddersfield, and is one of the few English managers to have taken charge of over 1000 games.
And he has backed Dickov to be a success, despite the South Yorkshire side lying 20th in the division, just three points off the relegation zone.
"Paul was a player who gave 100%, played from the heart and fans like to see that," he added. "He is infectious and will earn a reputation for himself.
"I have said to Paul it is a great opportunity for British managers now to go and prove themselves and do well. The world is their oyster if they can do that."


At least one in every four women invited for cervical cancer screening in England last year failed to attend, latest figures show.

Out of about 4.2 million women invited, just over three million attended. NHS Digital said it was the second consecutive year that screening rates had fallen.
Attendance rates in Wales and Scotland have also gone down.
Charities said women were putting their lives at risk by not getting screened.
A cervical screening test (previously called a smear test) is not a test for cancer.
It checks for any abnormal cells on the cervix (neck of the womb) that might become cancer.
Detecting and removing these cells can prevent cervical cancer.
The test takes about five minutes.
Some women find the procedure uncomfortable or embarrassing.
Women are invited for regular screening, aged:
HPV cervical cancer test introduced in England
Cervical screening 'could save hundreds more lives'
Women over 50 'putting off cervical screening test'
In the 12 months up to March 2016, 72.7% of those eligible for screening actually attended.
This was down from 73.5% the year before and 75.7% in March 2011.
The lowest uptake was in London (66.6%), and the highest was in the East Midlands (75.9%).
Women in their early 50s had the highest attendance rates - over 80%.
Women in their late 20s had the lowest - just over 60%.
The annual figures include 500,000 women tested without having been invited by the programme.
These women are screened because they have symptoms or other health problems.
Experts say it is unclear why women are not attending.
They are sent invitations through the post, along with reminder letters if they fail to attend.
Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust chief executive Robert Music, said: "The new data makes bleak reading.
"If we do not start to immediately reverse declining coverage, then tragically we will see more diagnoses and lives lost from what is a largely preventable disease."
He said the government should consider introducing the option of self-screening.
"We are calling for urgent action to explore initiatives including self-testing, increasing provision of screening in sexual health clinics and allowing women to attend screening at GP surgeries other than the one they are registered with," Mr Music said.
Public Health England director of screening Dr Anne Mackie said: "Cervical screening prevents thousands of cancers, so it is important women take up the opportunity to be screened.
"We are supporting local services to encourage more women to attend screening through clearer information and tailored reminders.
"We have also asked the independent expert Screening Committee to consider the merits of self-testing for women who are not taking the test."
Health minister David Mowat said: "Cervical screening saves around 4,500 lives a year in England and I urge all women to decide to attend screening appointments when invited."


A suicidal woman was able to hang herself when left unattended at a hospital because of failings and misunderstandings, a coroner has said.

Recording a suicide verdict Michael Singleton said Jackie Williams, 42, was not "appropriately managed" at Royal Blackburn Hospital.
Mrs Williams was hanged in a cubicle at the A&E ward on 27 January.
The East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said patient safety has improved.
Mrs Williams was admitted to hospital late on 26 January after being found unconscious and intoxicated by a canalside in Burnley.
The inquest heard hospital staff were aware she was suicidal but Mr Singleton said it was not made "adequately clear" the cubicle door should remain open.
The Blackburn Coroner said not only did Mrs Williams have suicidal thoughts but she was put in an environment in which she could act on those thoughts - a room with potential ligatures and ligature points.
He also said there was "no effective referral" of the patient to the mental health liaison team at the hospital and there was "clear misunderstanding" between nursing and mental health staff that meant Mrs Williams was left unattended and not seen by an appropriate specialist.
Mr Singleton is preparing a Regulation 28 report - which allows coroners to highlight concerns to prevent future deaths - but said he had already been impressed by the manner in which both the hospital trust and the Lancashire Care NHS Trust had already addressed some issues.
Both hospital trusts said patient areas had been reviewed to reduce the risk of self-harm with better observation of high risk patients.
Mrs Williams's husband Wayne was asked if he was satisfied with the inquest outcome but said he was not.


East Africa's leaders have said they will not accept a violent overthrow of the government in South Sudan, where more than 1,000 people are believed to have died in recent clashes.

Kenya's president also called for an immediate end to the fighting and for talks with both sides.
The UN is sending extra peacekeepers to the world's newest country.
The clashes come amid a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar.
There are reports of mass killings along ethnic lines, targeting both members of Mr Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and Mr Machar's Nuer community.
The fighting has forced more than 100,000 to flee their homes, with about 60,000 seeking refuge at UN compounds across the country, UN officials say.
East African regional leaders from the eight-member bloc, known as Igad, are meeting in Kenya's capital Nairobi after the leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia met President Kiir in South Sudan's capital Juba on Thursday.
However, BBC South Sudan analyst James Copnall says there is no sign of the key step in solving this crisis - direct talks between the two protagonists.
President Kiir is the only Igad leader not attending the Nairobi talks but a Kenyan official sought to downplay his absence.
"Kiir is not coming because [Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam] Desalegn and [Kenyan President Uhuru] Kenyatta met him yesterday in Juba. Everything they needed to discuss was discussed," a State House official told the Reuters news agency.
He is being represented by senior officials.
China, which buys most of South Sudan's oil, has also sent an envoy to the region to try to negotiate an end to the fighting.
"Let it be known that we in Igad will not accept the unconstitutional overthrow of a duly and democratically elected government in South Sudan," President Kenyatta said at the start of the talks.
"Violence has never provided optimum solutions - violence begets more violence," he said.
The Kenyan leader said the violence must be stopped immediately.
"We have a very small window of opportunity to secure peace, which we urge all stakeholders to seize, including [Riek] Machar," he said.
He said two peace envoys should be appointed to talk to both sides and suggested that one of them be Gen Lazaro Sumbeiywo - who helped broker the 2005 Sudan peace deal which led to the South's independence in 2011.
Rebecca Garang, widow of John Garang, who led south Sudanese rebel forces against Khartoum for many years, told the BBC's Newsday programme she was "optimistic" about the Nairobi talks and welcomed the regional intervention.
She said her late husband would not have been happy with the fighting in the world's newest country.
"Those people who have died for the cause of this country would not be happy with what we are doing today," she said.
The head of the UN mission in South Sudan, Hilde Johnson, on Thursday called on the country's political leaders "to give peace a chance".
"The nation that [was] painstakingly built over decades of conflict and strife is at stake," she said, speaking via a video link from Juba.
The UN Security Council has voted to almost double the number of peacekeepers to 12,500.
Rebel forces have seized two state capitals - Bor and Bentiu - and say they have captured a third, Malakal, although the army disputes this.
The fighting is also affecting oil production, which accounts for 98% of government revenue.
The violence erupted after President Kiir accused the former vice-president, who had been sacked in July, of plotting a coup.
Mr Machar denied any involvement and said the accusations were an attempt by Mr Kiir to get rid of his political rivals.
The fighting quickly spread to half of Sudan's 10 states.
South Sudan has been beset by a series of rebellions since becoming independent from Sudan in 2011.


Colonel Kossi Akpovy has been elected the new president of the Togolese Football Federation after Saturday's congress held in Lome.

He won 26 of the 48 votes cast to clinch victory in the first round.
The elections were organised by Fifa's Normalisation Committee, who had been put in place to manage the Togo FA's affairs after an internal crisis.
Akpovy's major tasks are to streamline the country's football administration and restart the domestic league.
He said: "I will turn the fortunes of Togo's football.  I am going to make sure that we start the league by 15 May 2016 because we need young talented players to fill up our national teams."
Togo play Tunisia home and away in Match as part of the qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.


Teachers and lecturers across Scotland were paid more than £600,000 in compensation for injuries - including from assaults and accidents - at work in the past year.

Payments to members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union included £55,000 to a teacher assaulted by a pupil.
It was said to have happened when the teacher attempted to calm the pupil.
Many payouts were due to injuries caused by accidents.
They included £12,000 for a knee fracture caused by tripping over a metal door wedge and the same amount for a broken arm caused by slipping on black ice in a school car park.
Another award was £12,500 for back pain caused by carrying a heavy box without handles.
The total payouts to EIS members for the year reached £608,925.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: "This year's figure of over £600,000 in compensation for teachers and lecturers injured at work demonstrates that there is still a long way to go towards the aim of eliminating workplace injuries in our schools, colleges and universities.
"The most common cause of injuries continues to be accidents such as slips, trips and falls.
"These are also the types of incidents that are entirely avoidable with correct adherence to appropriate health and safety procedures in the workplace.
"Schools, colleges and universities will never be entirely risk-free but it is essential that all facilities are as safe as possible for learners and staff alike."
Mr Flanagan denied the payouts were an indication of a compensation culture.
He said the compensation amounts would be reduced if insurance firms took less time to admit liability.


A man with terminal motor neurone disease has told the High Court he faces an "unbearable death" because of the law on assisted dying.

Noel Conway, 67, who was diagnosed in November 2014 and is not expected to live beyond 12 months, said he should be free to determine his own death.
Mr Conway, from Shrewsbury, attended court in a wheelchair and on a ventilator.
The case is the first heard since the law was challenged in 2014 and 2015.
Right-to-die campaigners lost an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2014 and this was followed by a debate in Parliament which concluded with MPs rejecting an attempt to introduce assisted dying in 2015.
The campaign group Dignity in Dying is supporting the legal bid.
Mr Conway wants permission to bring a judicial review which could result in terminally ill adults who meet strict criteria making their own decisions about ending their lives.
Richard Gordon QC, who is representing Mr Conway, said: "He wishes to die in the country in which he was born and has lived for his whole adult life.
"The choices facing him therefore are stark: to seek to bring about his own death now whilst he is physically able to do but before he is ready; or await death with no control over when and how it comes."
He said that Mr Conway contended that these choices, forced upon him by the provisions of the criminal law, violated his human rights.
He wants a declaration that the Suicide Act 1961 is incompatible with Article 8, of the Human Rights Act 1998 which relates to respect for private and family life, and Article 14, which protects from discrimination.
If the judges rule that Mr Conway has an arguable case, they will be asked to direct that it is heard as quickly as possible.
Lord Justice Burnett, sitting in London with Mr Justice Charles and Mr Justice Jay, said at the start of the hearing, which is due to last half a day, that they were minded to reserve their decision "only for a relatively short time".
Before his illness, Mr Conway, who is married, with a son, daughter, stepson and grandchild, was fit and active, enjoying hiking, cycling and travelling.
His condition means that whilst he retains full mental capacity, his ability to move, dress, eat and deal with personal care independently has diminished considerably.
At present there is a blanket prohibition on providing a person with assistance to die.
Mr Conway has said: "I feel very strongly that it is a dying person's right to determine how they die and when they die. The current law denies me this right.
"Instead, I am being condemned to unbearable suffering in my final months. I may die by suffocation or choking, or I could become completely unable to move or communicate.
"The only way for me to have some control is to refuse use of my ventilator, but there is no telling how long it would take for me to die, or whether my suffering could be managed.
"I'm going to die anyway. It's a question of whether I die with or without suffering and on my own terms or not.
"I'm bringing this case not just for me, but for all others facing terminal illness who want and deserve to have the option of a safe, dignified assisted death."
But a spokesman for the Care Not Killing Alliance said that changing the law would send out the wrong message.
"Changing the law would send out a negative message about those who are terminally ill, disabled or old and might pressure some into ending their lives because they feel that they have become either a financial or care burden.
"The current law exists to protect those who have no voice against exploitation and coercion.
"It acts as a powerful deterrent to would-be abusers and does not need changing."
A case brought by Tony Nicklinson - who suffered from paralysis after a stroke - was ultimately dismissed in 2014 by the Supreme Court, which stated it was important that Parliament debated the issues before any decision was made by the courts.
Mr Conway's case is different in that he has a terminal illness and his legal team are setting out a strict criteria and clear potential safeguards to protect vulnerable people from any abuse of the system.


Low cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle has said it has signed a deal to buy 222 new planes from Airbus and Boeing for a total cost of 127bn Norwegian krone ($21.5; Â£13.9bn).

The order includes 100 Airbus A320neo and 100 Boeing 737Max8, both of which are designed to be fuel efficient, and the right to buy a further 150 planes.
The airline said the deal was the largest in European aviation history.
Delivery of the planes is due to begin in 2016.
"Today is a historic day for Norwegian," said the airline's chief executive Bjorn Kjos.
"We have secured our fleet renewal for years to come and are very pleased with the agreements with both Airbus and Boeing."
Norwegian operates 261 routes to 100 destinations and has approximately 2,500 employees.
The company says it is the second largest airline in Scandinavia and the third largest of its type in Europe.


A teenager was taken to hospital after taking a so-called legal high.

Police were called to Boldon Colliery after reports that two boys had become unwell.
A 15-year-old boy was taken to South Tyneside General Hospital, where his condition is described as stable. Another boy, aged 16, was treated at the scene and is recovering at home.
Northumbria Police said the use of legal highs was "far from harmless" and will be visiting the area's schools.
The spokesman added: "These substances also often contain potentially dangerous chemicals which can prove fatal whichever way they are used so it's extremely important people avoid them. "


A decision not to prosecute Gerry Adams for allegedly withholding evidence about his rapist brother was correct, a review has concluded.

The Sinn Féin leader's brother, Liam Adams, was convicted in 2013 of raping and abusing his own daughter, Aine Dahlstrom, in the 1970s.
She has waived her right to anonymity.
Mr Adams confronted his brother in 2000, who confirmed that he had abused Ms Dahlstrom. However, Gerry Adams did not report it to the police until 2007.
He made the report shortly after his party voted to accept the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
When Ms Dahlstrom's case came to court, a decision was made to use Gerry Adams as a witness in the case.
Following Liam Adam's conviction, Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin was asked to investigate the decision-making process employed by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
Mr Larkin made two recommendations, the first of which is procedural.
However, he found that further inquiry ought to have been made about how much Gerry Adams knew about the abuse, and the allegations of serious offences such as rape.
The PPS has re-interviewed the rape victim in the case, who has indicated that she does not want to pursue the matter.
There will be no prosecution for withholding information.


Somali militant group al-Shabab has sent reinforcements to the town of Barawe, where US commandos tried to seize one of its leaders on Saturday, residents have told the BBC.

The residents say about 200 masked fighters have arrived in the coastal town with heavy machine guns.
The American raid targeted a Kenyan Somali known as Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir, alias Ikrima.
The operation follows last month's attack on a Kenyan shopping centre.
Al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda, has said it carried out the attack, in which at least 67 people were killed.
1992-4: US deploys troops to help UN mission - they leave after two US helicopters shot down
2007: Al-Shabab commander Aden Hashi Ayro wounded in air strike
2008: Ayro killed in similar attack
2009: Navy Seals kill Kenyan-born al-Qaeda operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, also in Barawe
2012: Navy Seals free US aid worker Jessica Buchanan and Danish colleague Poul Thisted from captivity of criminal gang
On the same day as the raid in Somalia, US forces seized alleged al-Qaeda leader Anas al-Liby from the Libyan capital Tripoli.
He is a suspected mastermind of the 1998 US embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania.
Barawe residents say Ikrima is an al-Shabab leader with responsibility for logistics, who is usually accompanied by about 20 well-armed guards.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said Ikrima was closely associated with Harun Fazul and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who helped with the 1998 embassy bombings and the 2002 attacks on a hotel and airline in Mombasa.
Nabhan was killed in a 2009 US air strike in Barawe. Harun Fazul, also known as Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was apparently killed by police in Mogadishu in 2011.
"While the operation did not result in Ikrima's capture, US military personnel conducted the operation with unparalleled precision," said Mr Little.
He said the operation "demonstrated that the US can put direct pressure on al-Shabab leadership at any time of our choosing".
According to a Kenyan intelligence report leaked to the US media, Ikrima was planning to attack targets in Kenya last year, including the Westgate shopping mall.
British citizen Samantha Lewthwaite was also named as having links to the planned attacks, the report says.
Early on Saturday morning the US forces approached a villa near the Indian Ocean coast where Ikrima is said to stay from time to time.
As they were putting up a ladder outside the building, a guard reportedly sounded the alarm, leading to an exchange of gunfire which lasted about 20 minutes.
The US forces then withdrew to the beach, got into speedboats and returned to a waiting ship, said residents of the town, which is 180km (110 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab has said that one of its fighters was killed during the attack.
The BBC's Mohammed Moalimu in Mogadishu says that residents are now afraid to use their phones in case they are accused of being US spies.
Al-Shabab has controlled the town since 2008.
When asked on Sunday whether Somalia had been aware of the raid, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid said: "Our co-operation with international partners on fighting against terrorism is not a secret."
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the operations in Libya and Somalia showed that the US would never stop "in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror".
The US has a huge military base in neighbouring Djibouti, from where it carries out many of its operations in Somalia.
Al-Shabab has been forced out of most of Somalia's major cities in the past two years but it still controls many rural parts of southern and central Somalia.
In 2008, al-Shabab commander Aden Hashi Ayro was assassinated in a US air strike in central Somalia.
Last year, US Navy Seals parachuted from a plane into central Somalia to free US aid worker Jessica Buchanan and her Danish colleague Poul Thisted.
US officials said at the time the two were held by criminals, not Islamists.


Leigh Centurions came from behind to beat Hull Kingston Rovers and put themselves on the verge of promotion to the Super League.

The hosts went ahead early on when Ken Sio and Josh Mantellato went over, but Sam Hopkins put Leigh back in it.
Andrew Dixon helped level the scores just after the break, before Matty Dawson crossed to give Leigh the lead.
Leigh scored their third try in seven minutes through Josh Drinkwater, though Matty Marsh set up a tense finale.
The result means Leigh are now four points off the Million Pound Game and one match away from returning to the Super League for the first time since 2005.
Rovers were without half-back Albert Kelly, who was suspended by the club after returning from a trip to Australia later than agreed.
Hull KR: Cockayne, Sio, Minns, Thornley, Mantellato, Marsh, Blair, Tilse, Lunt, Allgood, Greenwood, Clarkson, Walker.
Replacements: Mulhern, Larroyer, Donaldson, Lawler.
Leigh: McNally, Higson, Worthington, Brown, Dawson, Ridyard, Drinkwater, Hock, Higham, Weston, Maitua, Tickle, Paterson.
Replacements: Hood, Hansen, Dixon, Hopkins.
Referee: Robert Hicks


A murder accused confessed that he had slit a Montrose mother-of-three's throat and cut up her body in a bath, his former wife told a trial.

Barbara Whyte, 43, who was married to Steven Jackson for four years, said he told her that he would "never get caught".
She was giving evidence in the trial of Mr Jackson, 40, and Michelle Higgins, 29, who are accused of murdering and dismembering Kimberley MacKenzie.
The couple deny the charges.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that Ms Whyte met her former husband in a Blairgowrie pub six days after the alleged murder after contacting him for the first time in 17 years.
They subsequently spent the night in a B&B where she said Mr Jackson told her he had "cut up someone" the previous week.
Prosecutor Ashley Edwards QC asked her if Mr Jackson had told her about an occasion when Ms MacKenzie had come to his door.
She replied:  "He said Michelle Higgins came running through and hit her over the back of the head with a hammer.
"He said that her brain matter was all over the room and everywhere.
"He said they removed her from there to the bathroom."
Ms Whyte said Mr Jackson told her that he had slit Ms MacKenzie's throat and she had "bled out like a pig".
She continued: "He said he cut her up. He said he cut her legs and thighs.
"He was sort of joking and said it took two black bin bags to cover up her thighs."
Ms Whyte said Mr Jackson told her that his co-accused was bipolar and that they used caustic soda to clean the body and the house.
She added: "He said he would never get caught."
Ms Whyte said Mr Jackson had told her that he had put Ms MacKenzie in bins and recycling bins and "he was adamant that no one would ever find them".
She said: "He said Michelle Higgins moved out of his flat and took a hand and a foot with her.
"He had been arrested that weekend.
"When he got back, he got Michelle Higgins in an alleyway with a knife and threatened her life to get the pieces of Kim back."
Ms Whyte said that, during their conversation, Mr Jackson was "his usual irate self,  jumping from one person to another".
She said: "This is why I did not know whether to believe what he was saying was true.
"Mr Jackson reads a lot of horror books, real-life crimes and fantasises a lot."
Defence QC Donald Findlay, representing Mr Jackson, told Ms Whyte that her evidence was "pure invention".
She replied: "No, he said that. You're representing a client who is a murdering scumbag.
"He told me what he done and what he done was sick."
Both accused deny murdering Ms MacKenzie by repeatedly striking her on the head, neck and body with a hammer or similar instrument at a flat in Montrose on 27 October last year.
They are also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by dismembering Ms MacKenzie's body using a saw, knives and a screwdriver and wrapping parts of her body in bin liners and bags and hiding them in bins.
It is alleged that Ms MacKenzie's head and other body parts were in a rucksack and suitcase concealed in a shower cubicle at another Montrose property.
The couple are also alleged to have disposed of clothing and footwear worn by Ms Mackenzie and washing their own clothing.
The trial before judge Lady Rae continues.


The customer discontent over energy bills has rumbled on for years.

It reached fever pitch in 2013 and Ed Miliband sought to gain political favour by promising to freeze energy bills or even break up some of the biggest players.
After countless Ofgem probes, the issue of stubbornly high prices was referred to a body with real teeth, the Competition and Markets Authority, and this morning, after two years of inquiry, they bared them.
The question is, how sharp are they?
One of our biggest enemies as energy customers, it could be argued, is ourselves. Inertia - the disinclination to switch - costs customers well over £1bn a year.
About 70% of all customers are on their supplier's standard tariff and, if they were to move, the CMA estimates they could save £300 to £400 a year.
To prod us into action, the CMA proposes setting up an Ofgem-controlled database, which will keep details on which customers have been on which tariffs for how long.
Customers who have been on a standard tariff for three years will have their details made available to competitors, who can then offer you a better deal.
If you don't switch, you may regret it if you are bombarded with marketing materials from other suppliers. The detail of this will be examined closely to see whether there are data protection issues that arise.
Some people find it much harder to switch - those on pre-payment meters or those in debt to their existing suppliers. Here we WILL see price controls: namely, a transitional price cap for four million customers until 2020.
The existence of price controls in a market that was deregulated 20 years ago will be seen by some as evidence of failure of that market.
Ofgem tried to make life simpler for customers, reducing the bewildering array of tariffs to just four per supplier.
That didn't work, according to the CMA. It reduced innovation and so out it goes.
So we will be back to needing a degree to sift through hundreds of different offers. We will see, but it's possibly good news for the comparison websites.
There are other proposals, including one potential can of worms.
The CMA wants to ensure that government support for low-carbon technologies which is passed through to customers - the "green" bits of the bill - should be assessed for impact on customers beforehand.
That sounds like a recipe for a lot of political and environmental wrangling about which technologies get supported and to what extent.
So what do the energy companies make of this?
They have been slow to respond and, to be fair, we have only seen the executive summary.
The full 1,000-page report drops on their desks next week. That is a lot to work through.
The report is not as radical as some would have liked. The consumer group Which? said: "There is still a long way to go before we will have an energy market that works for all consumers."
But if the proposals get more of us to switch, while protecting more vulnerable customers, they will make some dent in the £1.7bn we overpay each year.


Nottingham Forest youngster Matty Cash has joined Football League bottom side Dagenham & Redbridge on loan.

The 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who signed a new contract at Forest earlier this week, has joined the Daggers until 2 April.
He could make his senior debut in Saturday's League Two match at home to York City.
Cash will link up with Joe Worrall, who is also on loan at the east London club from Forest.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


A priest who will conduct the funeral service of a woman murdered in the US 183 years ago has said it brings into sharp focus the plight of Irish emigrants.

The remains of Catherine Burns, 29, will be returned to Clonoe, near Coalisland, County Tyrone, for reburial in the summer.
A widow, she left her native shores in 1832 with her father-in-law and many others from Tyrone. All hoped for a better life in the land of free.
However, within weeks of arriving, Catherine had disappeared - murdered while working for a US railroad.
She was among 57 Irish labourers hired to build a section of railway between Philadelphia and Columbia, a worksite that would become known as Duffy's Cut.
By the end of August 1832, all the workers were dead. Some perished due to a cholera outbreak, but most were murdered.
There are a number of theories as to why they were killed, including prejudice against Irish Catholics or a fear that they would spread cholera.
Many were buried in a mass grave and forgotten for more than a century. Catherine was buried nearby but the recent discovery of further fragments of her bones has lead to a move to have her remains returned home.
Fr Benny Fee, of St Patrick's Church, Clonoe, will preside over her funeral Mass on 19 July following her repatriation.
He said her story "touches our history with people leaving Ireland for America and their hopes and desires".
"Not everyone found its streets were paved with gold."
Emigration from Ireland began as early as 1603.
However, the period of greatest emigration began about 1780 and reached its peak from 1845 to 1855, when it is thought between one and two million people left Ireland because of the potato famine.
Fr Fee said: "There's a poignancy in it of this lovely girl who went to America hoping for a new home, a new life after her husband died, but in the words of the Christy Moore song about Duffy's Cut, she went 'into hell'.
"She was one of the few females on the ship, that's how they were able to identify her.
"She was apparently bound and died from a blow with a sharp instrument."
Duffy's Cut and its story have been brought to light over the past 12 years by brothers Frank and William Watson, a Lutheran minister and a historian at Immaculata University.
They have led a team trying to uncover what happened to those 57 workers who hail from such places as Donegal, Tyrone and Derry.
Dr Frank Watson said they had used an old railroad file inherited from their grandfather to glean information.
After the mass grave was found in 2009, they sought to have the site excavated, remains identified and the cause of the emigrants' deaths determined.
"We have now recovered six bodies and reburied five in West Lauer Hill cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania in 2012, along with one in Ardara in Donegal in 2013 (John Ruddy)," he said.
"All of those recovered to this date were murdered by blunt force trauma, and one was both axed and shot in the head. None of the murdered show defensive wounds, indicating that they may have been tied up prior to being murdered.
"On July 19 my brother Bill, Earl, and I will be travelling to Clonoe, Tyrone, to bury remains of the woman that were uncovered at Duffy's Cut named Catherine Burns (born around 1803) ."
In a further tragic twist to Catherine's story, no-one has been able to trace her family because they do not know her maiden name.
Fr Fee is also unaware of any of her relatives living in the area.
He said: "It is a cause for reflection that this lady is coming back to Tyrone. It will be a privilege to conduct the funeral.
"I want to give her the dignity and value in death that she did not have in life."


The number of people killed when a bus crashed into a truck in northern Ghana has risen to 71, medical officials say.

The Metro Mass Transit coach reportedly collided head-on with a cargo truck carrying tomatoes near the town of Kintampo on Wednesday evening.
Regional police chief Maxwell Atingane told Reuters news agency that many passengers died at the scene.
He said police were investigating the cause of the crash, believed to be one of the worst in many years.
Joy News, a Ghanaian website, reported that a passenger told police that the bus had been experiencing brake problems.
Investigators said the bus was overloaded, carrying more than 70 passengers rather than a maximum of 63.
The coach was travelling north from Kumasi, the second largest city after Accra, the capital.
Fifty-eight of the 71 were already dead when they were brought to the hospital in Kintampo, said Bismark Owusu Fosu, the hospital director.
A further 10 died after admission, and another three people died at a nearby hospital, he added.
Anger has spread against some people on social media who shared horrific pictures of the aftermath, the BBC's Sammy Darko reports from Accra.
Emergency services are said to have worked for hours to try to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.
President John Mahama offered his condolences to "those who've lost loved ones" via Twitter.


West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore wants to make proud the people who helped him through difficult times after earning an England recall.

The 27-year-old won his only cap in August 2012 against Italy but has had some dark days since then.
After the death of his newborn son Jake Junior, he tested positive for cocaine in May 2015 but avoided a two-year ban and has gone on to rebuild his career.
"I wouldn't have thought it would come, it was in my distant dreams," he said.
"I never thought I'd have the opportunity to represent my country again. The longer it goes, the harder it seems to get.
"To be honest it wasn't overly in my thoughts, it was more just wanting to get back into club football and put a positive spin on my career, for my friends, for my family and those who stuck by me - the FA among them.
"Hopefully I can do myself, my country and them proud.
"Having this opportunity to repay them in any way, shape or form is like a dream for me."
Livermore was a surprise inclusion in Gareth Southgate's squad to face Germany in a friendly on Wednesday and Lithuania in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday.
He said he got his career back on track after his personal tragedy with the support of then Hull City manager Steve Bruce.
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He said in an interview with Football Focus last year that his positive test for cocaine was the "get out of jail free card" he needed to start to come to terms with the death of his son.
The Football Association decided not to ban him because of "the unique nature of circumstances" involved.
He helped Hull win promotion to the Premier League last season before earning a £10m January move to West Brom and wants to be there for others in the future.
"Football always helped me very much because it was a platform for me to propel my life, really," he added. "Everyone has their own story and everyone will be opened up to different opportunities or temptations.
"When people need you, like I needed someone, I want to be a person who can help someone else.
"It's nice to be able to help someone and give something back because when I really needed it I was fortunate to have that with the FA and my club."


Dame Helen Mirren has received warm reviews for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the Broadway transfer of The Audience.

Peter Morgan's play imagines private meetings between the monarch and her prime ministers over her 60-year reign.
Variety critic Marilyn Stasio wrote: "Maybe she'll add a Tony to her collection for her triumphant return to Buckingham Palace in The Audience."
Ben Brantley of the New York Times described Dame Helen as "smashing".
Dame Helen won the best actress prize at both the Olivier and Evening Standard awards when she first played the role in London two years ago.
The play, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Peter Morgan, also features political figures such as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron.
It also sees the Queen transform from a young, inexperienced monarch to steely figurehead.
The Huffington Post's theatre critic, Michael Glitz, wrote: "None of it would matter without Mirren... It's hard to imagine anyone doing it better.
"Mirren is marvellous, letting the few moments of emotional depth pass by without making too much of them."
The New York Post's Elisabeth Vincentelli concurred, writing: "To the surprise of exactly no one, Helen Mirren is absolutely terrific as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience.
"The physical transformation itself is a lot of fun - how can you not see something that happens right in front of your eyes?!
"But it pales compared with the way Mirren switches roles from an established, ageing ruler to a young woman - not yet crowned - who holds her own against a colossal statesman swinging his weight around."
Time Out New York's David Cote also heaped praise on the British actress, saying she "transforms brilliantly... from the grandmotherly 69-year-old comforting an insecure John Major... to the 25-year-old heir apparent nervously schooled by Winston Churchill."
Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune described the production as a "coup de theatre". "Watching Mirren seem to peel off years and cares," he wrote, "is nothing short of a dazzling experience".
David Rooney, writing in The Hollywood Reporter, observed: "Morgan's take on the Queen in these fictionalised meetings is daubed in skewed sentiment, but Mirren sells it with impeccable finesse."
The production marks Dame Helen's third Broadway outing, following performances in Turgenev's A Month in the Country and Strindberg's Dance of Death, opposite Sir Ian McKellen. Both productions earned the actress Tony nominations.
The Audience will return to London's West End next month, in an updated version starring Kristin Scott Thomas.


The Forth Road Bridge is to fully reopen on Saturday.

The bridge was closed to all traffic on 4 December after a crack was discovered in a truss under the carriageway. The bridge then reopened to all vehicles except HGVs on 23 December.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay said final repairs would be completed in time to allow HGVs over the bridge from 23:00 on Saturday.
It follows a phased reintroduction of HGVs at night over the past two weeks.
It was thought the bridge would fully reopen in mid-February but then officials said it would be mid-March.
However, officials said "favourable" weather conditions since the storms in January meant the team was able to complete the works early.
They also re-engineered the construction phase to allow the majority of steelwork to be done in workshops, reducing the impact of the weather.
Mr Mackay said: "The immediate repair work is in the final stage and no further structural defects have been identified during painstaking investigations by engineers.
"I know that this is something that will be welcomed by the tens of thousands of drivers who use the bridge on a daily basis, especially the heavy goods vehicle drivers who have had to observe restricted crossing times in the past few weeks.
"I would like to thank them for their patience during this time and stress again that safety and the long-term integrity of the bridge had to be our main considerations.
"We did all we could to assist the HGV community on an operational level and they have shown great forbearance."
The minister said tributes had to be paid to the engineering team that had been "relentless in its commitment" to getting the bridge reopened.
He said the team had worked "tirelessly" throughout despite "very challenging weather conditions", employing innovative approaches to the repairs and putting in place very effective solutions to complex problems.
Mr Mackay said a new state-of-the-art structural monitoring system installed at the bridge for the first time during the works would remain.
The specialist system monitors the strain from wind, traffic and the weight of the bridge.
Bridge operator Amey has also taken the opportunity to give the bridge "a full structural a health check" and undertaken routine maintenance, lessening the need for further closures.
Mark Arndt, Amey's account director for the Forth Road Bridge, said: "Getting to this stage is the result of months of hard work from our team and partners and we're hugely appreciative of the dedication shown by everyone involved during, what has been, a very challenging time.
"The finish line is now in sight and by Saturday, we'll have completed all the necessary repairs to safely reopen both the north and south bound carriageway to all traffic."
Fife Council leader David Ross said: "This is great news for Fife. It will be a huge relief to travellers and businesses on both sides of the Forth, particularly HGV drivers who have had to put up with long detours to reach their destinations.
"I'd like to add my thanks to all those who have been working so hard to get the bridge open again.
"This news will also be welcomed by those towns and villages in West Fife that have had large vehicles trundling down their streets for many months while bridge repairs have been under way."
However, he added: "While I'm extremely grateful to those who have worked so hard to get the bridge re-opened, there are questions that have to be answered as to why we got into this situation in the first place and what contingency plans there were in place.
"These issues have to be fully investigated and dealt with by the Scottish Parliament inquiry. I look forward to hearing its findings."


Plans for a new cancer research centre in Manchester have received a £12.8m funding boost from the government.

It follows a successful bid to part-fund construction of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) on the Christie Hospital site in Withington.
The £35m facility will work on developing personalised cancer treatments for thousands of patients across the UK.
A university spokesman said the announcement was a "fantastic boost".
Chris Cox, the university's director of development, said the research centre would translate discoveries made in the laboratory into new treatments.
He said it would house 150 additional researchers who will be developing new ideas and treatments.
Research will focus on radiation therapy, lung cancer, women's cancers, melanoma and haematological oncology.
The centre is the result of a partnership between The University of Manchester, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK.
The Christie's chief executive Caroline Shaw said the funding would "help facilitate groundbreaking research right here in Manchester".
"The MCRC is a major step forward that will maximise our potential to benefit not just cancer patients on our doorstep but across the world."
The Christie treats more than 40,000 patients a year, with about a quarter of patients referred from other parts of the country for specialist treatment.
The announcement was made by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to "progress cancer research development in Manchester."
David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science said the centre "will address the key issues we face" in tackling cancer.
Revised plans for the research centre were given the go-ahead in March after a proposal for a multi-storey car park on the site was dropped.
The centre is scheduled to open in 2014.


Hamilton Academical are in the process of completing the signings of defender Danny Seaborne and striker and fellow Englishman Rakish Bingham.

Bingham, 22, who had a loan spell with Falkirk in 2013, spent the last season with Hartlepool United.
The 29-year-old Seaborne rejected a new contract with Partick Thistle after two seasons at Firhill.
Accies manager Martin Canning said: "We're just waiting for the clearance to be confirmed for both of them."
Seaborne, who joined Thistle after leaving Coventry City in 2014, made 35 appearances for Accies' Premiership rivals last season.
Bingham, who began his career with Wigan Athletic and had a spell with Mansfield Town, scored four times in 38 appearances for League Two outfit Hartlepool last season.
"In Dan, I have been looking for a bit more experience and he brings that to the team," Canning told BBC Scotland after Friday's 1-1 draw with Dundee.
"The two guys who played tonight played well and it gives us good competition now.
"Up top, we've got Rakish coming in who offers something slightly different to Alex D'Acol, Eamonn Brophy and Shaka Roy, who are stronger, take the ball in.
"Rakish can also take it in, but he gives you that threat in behind. He's quicker and more mobile, so hopefully that gives us a better balance up top as well."
The point at Dens Park leaves Accies third bottom of the table with two points from their opening three games and having played one more game than Hearts and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
However, Canning stressed: "We are in a good place.
"Our squad's strong I feel and I have been trying to bring in a couple - and the right people - and it's taken a while to get those deals done."


Forecasters have warned of more heavy rain over the weekend as the clean-up effort continues in flood-hit areas of Scotland.

The Met Office has issued amber "be prepared" warnings of rain for much of north east and central Scotland on Saturday and Sunday.
The areas were among the worst affected by Storm Frank on Wednesday.
Two people have died in separate incidents in fast-flowing rivers in northern Scotland since the storm hit.
Police said the body of a kayaker missing during the storms had been recovered from the River Findhorn in Moray.
And a 36-year-old canoeist died after falling into the River Garry near Invergarry, south of Loch Ness, on Thursday afternoon.
The amber alert covers Grampian, Tayside, central Scotland and Fife from noon on Saturday until 15:00 on Monday.
Yellow "be aware" warnings have also been issued for Wales, Northern Ireland and south west England on Saturday and Sunday.
And several Environment Agency (EA) flood warnings remain in place for parts of the Midlands, North East, North West and Wales.
The Met Office said the rain over the weekend was "not expected to be as intense as recently", but warned that some areas of Scotland could see as much as 20cm (8in) over the weekend and into Monday.
It added: "Given the saturated nature of the ground there is a greater risk of surface water and river flooding that might normally be expected.
"Be prepared for the likelihood of both surface and river flooding, as well as some local disruption to transport."
The Met Office has also warned of gale or severe gale force south-easterly winds which are likely to result in stormy seas and coastal overtopping along the east coast and in the Northern Isles.
Wednesday's heavy rain and gale-force winds left many people stranded, in temporary accommodation and without electricity, and also prompted the most severe "danger to life" flood warnings to be issued.
Scottish Power Energy Networks said that electricity supplies had now been restored to customers affected in the Springholm, Dalbeattie and Castle Douglas areas.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said that New Year's Day would bring some respite, but heavy and persistent rain may lead to a flood risk in Angus, Tayside and southern Aberdeenshire on Saturday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Environment Minister Aileen McLeod visited Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday to view the damage to shops and businesses affected by flooding.
Ms McLeod said the Scottish government was monitoring the latest weather warnings and working with other agencies to ensure people and businesses were as prepared as possible for the impact of the weather and any potential flooding.
She added: "I would encourage everyone to monitor Sepa's Floodline website for the latest flood information and to sign up to receive Floodline warnings direct to their phone."