Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I am delighted by the fighting spirit shown by Deputy Mattie McGrath. For a minute I thought he was an Army officer leading his troops into battle.

I have a great interest in history and one of the key dates I can recollect is 14 January 1922 when a decision was made by the people to accept the treaty negotiated by the great Michael Collins. On that day, many of the barracks occupied by the British Army were taken over by the young men of the Army of the Irish Free State. It is ironic that one member, the late President Éamon de Valera, decided he would not accept the democratic decision of the people.

I am proud to say I have great respect for the young men of the Irish Free State Army who stood by the democratic decision of the people. I have great respect for the young men of the Army who, when this country became a Republic, stood by the people of the Congo where some of them lost their lives. I also have great respect for and honour the people of the Army who served in Bosnia and Lebanon and who stood by the people there. I have no problem with the way they have defended democracy in various places around the world and along the Border here. A good friend of mine was badly injured on his way home from a barracks on the Border during the Troubles in the North of Ireland.

I come from County Kildare which is well known as having a close affinity with the Army. In 1813 a barracks was opened in Naas. That barracks no longer exists because it was closed in 1998 by a Fianna Fáil-led Government. In 1901 a barracks was rebuilt in Kildare but that barracks was closed by a Fianna Fáil-led Government in 1998.

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