Mr. John Bruton:

As I understand it, the proposed legacy Bill is not going to afford relatives of victims the opportunity to learn the full truth of what happened and that is not satisfactory. I can see the problem. English nationalism is very much built around the armed forces. It is part of their sense of themselves. I remember the late Paddy Hillery saying to me when we discussed the English in Áras an Uachtaráin in 1980s "they're a very warlike people". Part of the expression of English nationalism is a reverence for the armed forces and this is the difficulty.

Like the Senator, I am quite pessimistic about the protocol. I know the mood music is better but better mood music costs nothing. No sacrifices have to be made by anybody. We are dealing with a government in London that is on its last legs where most people know they will not be back. They are basically quite desperate, which means they might pull the whole house down on top of them. Hopefully, that will not be the case but when you see so many people leaving politics in Great Britain, it is very worrying. I know Irish diplomats were very successful in the 1980s in building up to the Anglo-Irish Agreement in the talking and wining and dining of Tory MPs. I would say there is a case for that now but I do not envy Irish diplomats who must undertake that task. It is not easy.