Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their very powerful and informative submissions. I am conscious that a lot of people want to ask questions so I will try to be as quick as possible.

Mr. Stack stated that when he was here in 2015 that we wanted to call the former Attorney General, Michael McDowell, into the committee. That has not happened yet. I would propose that we write to Senator McDowell, as he is now, to request that he come in and give his views to the committee, if that is possible.

Also, Mr. Stack wanted a full public inquiry into the investigations. I wonder who we could call in. Is there anybody the witness feels we should call into this committee to ask for a full public inquiry, because it obviously has not happened in the last two years. I will let the witness answer in a minute if that is okay.

Mr. Donaldson mentioned words which are very disturbing, "collateral damage". They dehumanise civilians and victims and I find sometimes the victims have been taken for granted and I do not know what we can do about it here. It is an issue that sometimes has been put down on the bottom of the pile when it comes to dealing with issues but I understand Northern Ireland is a very complicated issue.

To Ms Walshe, I want to say that the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation has done amazing work over the years. I did not know the history of Una O'Malley and the setting up of Glencree. From somebody who came from near the Border in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we felt comfortable because the full impact of the Troubles, or whatever we call them, did not impact on us but invariably it did to some degree. I think we are in a much better situation but sometimes people get left behind. I think we need to mobilise more people from the Republic that were affected. Mr. Stack mentioned 12 gardaí, and the prison officer was Mr. Stack's father, and also a member of the Defence Forces as well as the Monaghan and Dublin bombings. Perhaps we should do a lot more including Northern Ireland politicians, Republic of Ireland politicians and also those in Westminster as well. Working together we can see we have a shared history and can do more.

Ironically, the decade of commemorations, which commemorated Home Rule and the Ulster Covenant and the First World War and the Easter Rising, has been a huge success and I think we can learn an awful lot more. It has been a huge success in the last six or seven years. It has been carried out from an historical perspective but I think it has provided a platform where we can move on.

In relation to the Civil War issue, I think we have learned a huge lesson from what went on in the last five or ten years. What can we do as politicians to help? I know where I live people feel that with the Good Friday Agreement being 20 years old that the problems in relation to Northern Ireland are sorted and that it has moved on. It clearly is not, but we are in a much better place. What can we as politicians, who were not as affected, do? Ms Walshe referred to language. I have always found that Northern Ireland politicians, because they were at the coalface, use the right political language whereas sometimes down here in the Republic we do not use the right political language. It can be hurtful. I just want to ask those questions and once again thank all of the witnesses.