James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and am conscious of time. I know Mr. Adams has to get to an engagement and Deputy Carroll MacNeill has to come in as well, so I will try to be brief. I welcome Mr. Adams to the committee. It was very interesting to listen to the earlier parts from my office. The whole series on the agreement has been extremely enlightening and insightful. I remember the agreement and the talks around it well. I met Mr. Adams in the middle of it, not anywhere near the talks as I was not at that stage yet, but on Vinegar Hill for a 1998 bicentenary commemoration. I remember that whole period very well.

Mr. Adams rightly gave credit to a man from County Meath who was on the Fianna Fáil ard-comhairle, Mr. Dan O'Connell. I know he was mentioned earlier. He has sadly passed away since but he was a great Fianna Fáil man and a great contributor. It is good that he has been given credit for his role at that time.

I would like to pick up on a few points from Mr. Adams's opening statement and the testimonies today. He mentioned that there are some parallels with the journey the ANC took. He said that he met Nelson Mandela, Madiba, and got to know him, and how that travelled. One of the things that was done in the South African process that was not done here was a truth and reconciliation commission. A number of us would have concerns about the legacy legislation that is coming through the British Government at the moment or is certainly being threatened. There are domestic issues as well and there are issues on all sides. Such a commission might have been helpful but for whatever reason it was not possible at that time. What does Mr. Adams think is the reason it did not happen? Is it too late to do that now? What is his view on all of that?