Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is important to put the human face back on these types of discussions because sometimes we talk about these issues in legal and abstract terms. I think of one individual, Denise Mullen. She used to be a councillor for Aontú in the Moy area of east Tyrone. When she was four years old, the Glenanne gang came to her front door, shot her father dead in front of her and then tried to shoot her mother but she escaped by running across fields. Denise was left on the step while her father was dying for a few hours before the emergency services came. I think about the heinous elements of the murders of Irish people in the North of Ireland by the state. On top of that massive wrong was the cover-up, which heaped disaster on families. In many ways, families were nearly left to blame for the actions that befell them. At the time, the British establishment could separate itself - or at least try to - from those cover-ups by saying the administration in London was not responsible for the micro-actions of people on the ground in the North of Ireland. This Bill is the son and heir of each individual cover-up on the ground in the North of Ireland during the Troubles. In this situation, the British establishment cannot separate itself from those actions because the British Government itself is involved in the cover-up from its chambers in Westminster. That is a significant point.

It is important to say that the Tory Government cares and knows little about the North of Ireland. Its major motivation is votes on election day. That will always be the case. I met Labour Party peers and MPs in Westminster about this matter. I am left with no confidence that they will repeal this legislation either, if and when the Labour Party is elected to power in London.

An issue of frustration for me is that the Irish Government has been so slow to act. Before the legislation passed, the response from the Irish Government was that it would not make a decision until it passed because it would use every diplomatic tool to try to prevent that. Obviously, the legislation has been passed. Even now, we still hear a muddled response from the Government about what its decision will be. It is important for people, no matter where they are, whether in the South, the North, America or elsewhere, to make every effort to get the Irish Government to mobilise on this issue. I will raise it again with the Government in about an hour in the Dáil.

There is a little confusion over whether 18 January is the cut-off date for the Irish Government to make a decision on an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Is there wriggle room on that timeframe?