Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee today. I note they have always been willing to travel anywhere to discuss the work they are doing. It is really good work. At the end of the day, they are trying to get to the truth. How much does truth matter? Some people want absolute truth and want to know every single detail of what went on, while others want a general sketch or to forget something ever happened.

I was a member of the security forces. I referred to the security forces collusion during the worst period of what went on in Northern Ireland being airbrushed out of history to all intents and purposes. People regularly contact me and say there can be no reconciliation or putting things behind us unless not only those who saw themselves as being on the loyalist or republican side during the struggle in the North are dealt with but also the security forces who have walked away scot free.

People say to me that the Good Friday Agreement released prisoners, but they served time for the crimes they committed. Very few members of the security forces have served time for anything and they have not been called to account for their actions. They should be, but how far that goes I am not sure. I do not know whether they should be charged with crimes or brought to some sort of truth commission in which they can deal with some of the things they carried out. I would be interested in hearing the witnesses' views on that. It is a gaping hole in the reconciliation process.

There is now a whole generation of young adults who knew nothing of what went on in Northern Ireland other than what history tells them. In this country, we try to a large degree not to discuss our history. I recently saw a television documentary about something which went on in Northern Ireland. Somebody quite close to me asked whether it had to be shown and if it was not bringing everything back up again. To a certain degree, we want to forget what happened. There is an attitude that it should be left to certain people who can deal with it in a quiet room somewhere rather than having it brought to our attention.

I am concerned there are two types of victims in Northern Ireland. There are those who suffered trauma and those who were radicalised during the time involved, some of whom are having difficulty coming to terms with some of the acts they carried out. Some need to talk about them and others need to try to find reconciliation for what they did or were involved in or find peace in themselves.

I am concerned about those who are regarded as prisoners. When the Good Friday Agreement was signed and we opened the gates of prisons and allowed people from both sides of the community to come back out into society we still branded them as prisoners. They are still treated as prisoners. Some of the stories we have heard about the loading of car insurance, the inability to travel and disaffection with the system are concerning.

Some people are doing fine under the Good Friday Agreement but nobody has thought about a certain cohort. In a peculiar way, they are now in a position whereby they are almost unintentionally radicalising an entirely new generation in some parts of Northern Ireland because of their disaffection and fact that they have been treated badly, in their view. Perhaps they have.

One can stand in one part of Belfast and see an investment worth €1 billion less than half a mile away, but very little sign of the same investment in the community in which one is standing.

One can do the same thing in Dublin and funnily enough there are the same kind of societal problems. There is a growth of violence in north Dublin and I think there will also be a growth of violence in north Belfast in time. I am interested in the witnesses' views on that.

Brexit will bring a whole host of new problems for 1.8 million potential Irish citizens who are separated from their country by geography.