Mr. Mickey Brady:

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I acknowledge the work that Coiste does and the work done in my constituency by ex-prisoners such as the Felons in Newry, for instance, who not only work within our community but have very good contact and do a good deal of work with new nationals such as the Polish community.

Reference was made to Spain and Colombia. I am aware of the work that people like those in their organisation have done to try to bring a resolution to the problem involving the Basque community. I was in Colombia last week as part of an international delegation team to monitor the peace process there and I had the opportunity to speak to all sides of that conflict. I met a number of victims' groups and the Vice President of Colombia who was an ex-general very much involved in that conflict. I was struck by the similarity of their peace process to our own peace process, especially concerning the ex-combatants. One of the sad facts is that since January, more than 300 social activists and ex-combatants have been murdered by so-called parliamentary gangs. Criminal gangs have moved into areas that FARC has left.

We also spoke to the Cuban ambassador and the Norwegian ambassador. Cuba and Norway are the guarantors of their peace process. I hope they take their role as guarantors more seriously than the Irish and the British Governments have done with our peace process. We want them to ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Obviously, that is one of the reasons this committee exists. The role played internationally by organisations such as that of the witnesses in trying to bring about the resolution of other conflicts is often forgotten, having had the experience of our own conflict. I acknowledge that and reiterate what was said regarding what this committee can do to progress that. Ultimately, in terms of the legacy issues and victims, the stumbling block is very simply the DUP and the British Government under the Fresh Start agreement and the Stormont House Agreement. The tools are in place to ensure that many of the legacy issues can be resolved but, unfortunately, that is the stumbling block and that must be seen.