Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors so far. I thank Mr. Ó Muirigh for his analysis. I am really impressed by the way he makes his arguments. I am also impressed by the logic and the certainty of them. I assure him and anybody who might be listening in that this committee is of the exact same mind as to what the Government should do as regards the European Convention on Human Rights and the need for the Government to take that action. I have no doubt that that is happening under a due process. I do not believe - and I know nobody is suggesting this - that somebody is trying to delay. I am happy that the due process is in place.

Today is the 51st anniversary of the abduction and murder of Jean McConville, on 7 December 1972, in Belfast. She was a widow and a mother of ten children and she was buried in an unmarked grave for over 40 years without anybody identifying the place where she was put. If anything touches my heart, it is that, along with all the victims Mr. Ó Muirigh so rightly and properly included in his statement. This committee went and saw where Columba McVeigh was abducted and murdered and left in a bog in Monaghan 48 years ago. No body has yet been found. The pain of the families on all sides by evildoing and appalling acts like that absolutely cries out for justice. As regards anybody who has knowledge of the murders of Jean McConville, Columba McVeigh or all the other people who died in this awful tragedy, over 3,500 people, we need reconciliation, truth and justice, but justice must be seen to be done on all sides. Everybody is entitled to that, and I support absolutely what Mr. Ó Muirigh is saying here today. I appeal to anyone, particularly those in the IRA or former republicans, who know about where Columba McVeigh was brought or who can identify that location. We need more information because we are talking about acres, miles, of bog where he is buried. The family are entitled to a due and fair process. They are entitled to be able to bury him in the family grave, and that is all they are asking for. It is incumbent on all the people who committed these crimes in the North that the truth comes out and the families get closure.

I laud and support Mr. Ó Muirigh's contribution and work. The committee is fully behind what he has said today. I thank him again for his professionalism, commitment and integrity.

It has been 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement and, thankfully, the guns are silent and some parties are participating in an elected process. Obviously, there are people not allowing the Northern Executive to work. The North-South bodies are in abeyance and the east-west improvement in this regard is welcome. We have much work to do and the contribution Mr. Ó Muirigh is making is hugely important. I thank him for that.