John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am struck by Mr. Bruton's comments on the Canary Wharf bombing, where it was very clear that this operation had been planned for months. During that time, Sinn Féin was in background talks with Senator Mitchell and reassuring him of its bona fides. I looked up the Canary Wharf bombing again. One hundred people were hurt, mainly by broken glass, and 39 needed hospital treatment. Most of the injured were staff in an nearby office block. A British-Moroccan family was sitting in their car beside the bomb. The car was wrecked by the blast and the father received severe head injuries that left him permanently disabled. A woman was blinded in one eye by shards of glass and needed 300 stitches on her face and arms. How did Senator Mitchell and other leaders handle that? On one hand, they were talking with Sinn Féin behind the scenes while on the other, the IRA was murdering innocent civilians. How could that circle be squared?