Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have read the submission and I have listened to the commission representatives' answers to my colleagues, which have covered some of my points. Legacy is a complex aspect of all post-conflict countries. When we consider Rwanda, South Africa and the former Yugoslavia, I get the sense that some other countries have been more progressive than we have here. As people wait longer and longer they go in to a different frame of mind. The longer it goes on I believe it becomes more angry and more punitive. They are almost looking for heads on a plate because they have been left so long. If we could get to the basic conversation; do we draw a line under it and say there will be no prosecutions in the interest of getting to the truth and the information that would satisfy so many people?

From other legacy issue situations, such as the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, the hooded men and so on, we know how the British Government has been less than forthcoming. We have raised the issue with our own Ministers here and they say they raise it all the time but there seems to be little or no progress. I get the impression, certainly, that we are moving backwards with the British Government in that regard. Initially it was about the children of survivors but now we are talking about the grandchildren of survivors. It is so unfair and it fuels disaffection and disengagement in some communities. Not having a government in the North has contributed to this also.