Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the situation in Northern Ireland. Many of the contributions have focused on the economic progress made since the ending of the conflict. While progress has been made on economic issues and North-South co-operation, which is very welcome, there are still high levels of unemployment in the Six Counties and high levels of deprivation in many communities on both sides of the political divide.

Over the past year much disquiet has built regarding the political situation. We saw the reaction of loyalist communities to the so-called flags issue and the amount of unrest it fermented. This shows the complete lack of political leadership within loyalist communities and the lack of political direction from which they suffer. For many years they were used by Unionist politicians and the British State as cannon fodder, and it has always been in their interests to ensure they do not have political leadership. Loyalist leaders need to look at the state of their communities and ask why they are in that situation. They need to work within their communities to build political alternatives to Unionism, which has not served them. The recent Haass talks have shown the lack of leadership in mainstream Unionism and that it still cannot go beyond the traditional stance of blocking progress and not making decisions that would benefit all of society.

A structure, whether a truth commission or not, to allow families obtain answers on the many atrocities that took place in the conflict has to be established. The Government in the South has to stop letting the British Government off the hook on this issue and should ensure any structure to deal with the past includes both Governments, with full and frank disclosure of information. If families believe they will get answers and some form of closure, then reconciliation can begin. It is vital the British Government is forced to participate fully in any process.

Large cohorts of activists in republican communities do not see the Government in Stormont as the solution to the conflict which raged for many years. The Stormont regime is not a substitute for a united Ireland and should not be seen as such. I do not believe anybody in this State believes it is a substitute. They must question whether they should continue with armed action because there is a greater need for political work within their communities. The focus on armed action deprives communities of politically-oriented activists who could spend their time representing the community and building political strength rather than languishing in jail.

However, it also appears elements within the security apparatus do not want to see this happen. The use of a system of administrative internment, whereby people are held for years on remand without charge and whereby licences are revoked without explanation, sustains the sense of resistance and helps to create an atmosphere of conflict. We only have to look at the use of stop and search, whereby some politically active republicans have been stopped hundreds of times for no apparent reason. There are also concerns regarding the surveillance of solicitors. This leads many to wonder why they should be involved in politics and only creates a self-sustaining cycle of conflict.

The activity of MI5 in republican communities continues as they attempt to recruit agents, and this is causing huge concern. I wonder how active MI5 is in the Twenty-six Counties. Some commentators believe there are so many agents in republican groups they wonder whose aims they are pursuing. There are times when one must wonder in whose interests is the continuation of armed action and whether the security apparatus encourages it because it wants to ensure its own future.

Community and political action is the only way forward to remove the causes of the conflict once and for all and build towards a united Ireland and remove the British influence on our island.

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