Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak today. I am very conscious as I do so that this is the second time in three weeks that we have met in this Chamber to discuss the legacy issues in Northern Ireland. Three weeks ago, it was in the shadow of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, and today it follows on from the Police Ombudsman's report into collusive behaviour, which we understand as collusion.

Often the work in this Chamber comes at us very fast and we must catch up as we go along. In the past day or two, when I sat down to engage with what I would like to say today and examine some of the comments on the Police Ombudsman's report, I was struck by the words of a senior, unnamed PSNI officer who said the report made uncomfortable reading and apologised to the families. I do not know who that officer was but the word "uncomfortable" really stood out.

Some of the findings of collusive behaviour identified in the report are:

Intelligence and surveillance failings which led to loyalist paramilitaries obtaining military grade weaponry in a 1987 arms importation;

A failure to warn two men of threats to their lives.

A failure to retain records and the deliberate destruction of files relating to the attack at Sean Graham Bookmakers;

The failure to maintain records about the deactivation of weapons – "indicating a desire to avoid accountability for these sensitive and contentious activities";

The failure of police to exploit all evidential opportunities;

Failures by Special Branch to disseminate intelligence to murder investigation teams;

An absence of control and oversight in the recruitment and management of informants;

The continued, unjustifiable use by Special Branch of informant(s) involved in serious criminality, including murder and the passive 'turning a blind eye' to such activities.

We can all accept that these are not only uncomfortable but also shocking and harrowing. They should be called out. The ramifications for the victims, survivors and their families go far beyond what we constitute as uncomfortable.

I was very conscious of the importance of the reports and the testimony of the families following the unveiling of the report two weeks ago. The families of the victims welcome the Police Ombudsman's findings. A statement by Relatives for Justice and KRW Law suggests families feel vindicated by Ms Anderson's conclusions. It states:

The report finds that eleven murdered citizens and their families were systemically failed by the British state in life and in death. It is a damning report that is undiluted evidence of the policy of collusion as it was practiced in South Belfast, and across the North.

Truth is incredibly important. I thought about truth as opposed to the word "amnesty", as proposed by the British Government last year. I believe it was our own President, Mr. Michael D. Higgins, who talked about the ethics of memory. Memory, legacy and truth all belong to the same family.

There are absolutely no ethics in what the British Government is trying to do under the title of amnesty legislation. This legislation is simply trying to draw a line and say that at this point, there will be no more truth or consequence and no justice for the families. Across this Chamber, we are unified in our condemnation and opposition to that. It is not something that we will play politics with. Our opposition to that amnesty legislation will unite us on this island. It is anathema to the idea of truth and justice.

In the Minister's opening contribution he named some survivors he has been in contact with. He mentioned Eugene Reavey. Eugene became a friend of mine in the years before the pandemic struck, as did Stephen Travers. Eugene and Stephen have a programme called the Truth and Reconciliation Platform. I had never met them before, but they reached out to me and said that they wanted to take the Truth and Reconciliation Platform to DEIS schools in Dublin that I had previously been working in running leadership programmes. They wanted to come in and talk to some of the students about their experiences. It is an incredible experience to hear two people as honourable and with the integrity of Eugene and Stephen, and to hear about the cause for which they stand. I want to touch on that a bit. Their idea of truth and what they stand for really left an impression on me. It is exactly what we are standing here for today in this Chamber.

I stood in DEIS schools around Dublin with Eugene and Stephen. Eugene has a strong Armagh accent and he talked to the kids about Armagh football. Stephen has a much softer accent. When Stephen walked in, I noted the remarkable difference in how he was received by the kids and the older school staff and secretaries, who remembered him from his days in the Miami Showband. I had to explain to the students that in his day, Stephen was probably the equivalent of Justin Bieber. Eugene and Stephen talked to the kids about really harrowing experiences. Stephen spoke of the loss of his friends in the Miami Showband massacre and Eugene spoke of the loss of his brothers. You could hear a pin drop in those rooms. I asked them a number of times why they were doing this work and reliving the trauma almost every day of their lives. They said they do it because the truth is important. They told me that they are fighting to honour their family members and the victims, to stand in solidarity with survivors and to ensure that we never repeat the mistakes of the past. That is what we need to remember. That is why these reports are essential. That is why we have to stand for truth. That is why we must stand in opposition to the British Government's attempts to cast a blanket over this and deny us truth and justice. It is in the memory of those who lost their lives - the 3,500 victims and the 40,000 people who were injured in the Troubles by whatever forces. The dignity, the incredible power and the testimony of survivors is something that we must honour and herald every single day, whether it is in this Chamber or elsewhere. We must do all that we can to ensure that it is never forgotten. We must ensure that those accountable are brought to justice.

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