Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to have a chance to speak on this motion, which is both timely and opportune. It will give every Member of the House an opportunity to show their solidarity, support and sympathy for the brave sisters and fiancée of Robert McCartney. I come from a Border county, as does the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Donegal was probably more aware of the difficulties in Northern Ireland than any other county, including yours, a Cheann Comhairle.

Donegal is virtually cut off from the Republic. If the bridge at Ballyshannon was no longer there the only land access we would have to the rest of the country would be through Northern Ireland. If one did not avail of that, one would have to travel by boat to leave Donegal and re-enter the country. We were very aware of what was going on in Northern Ireland. We were very affected by it socially, politically and economically. Indeed, the unemployment rate in County Donegal is 16% or 17%, which is four times the national average.

There is a strong correlation between what is going on in Northern Ireland and its effect on my side of the Border. The Troubles often percolated right into my constituency. I had occasion to attend funerals in Donegal of constituents who were murdered by the IRA who had associations with Northern Ireland, some of whom were members of the police force there. The two areas are closely associated.

We were delighted in recent years that things had quietened down in Northern Ireland. There is a semblance of normality there for a number of years. However, while the outward manifestations of the Troubles such as watchtowers, army patrols, barricades and surveillance have almost disappeared from the Northern Ireland landscape, they have been replaced by a far more sinister and vicious phenomenon lurking, almost invisible like a serpent, underneath the surface throughout Northern Ireland, particularly in Nationalist communities. It is possible that they exist in loyalist communities as well. I refer to the gangs of vigilantes operated and controlled by members of the Provisional IRA.

While we have all been aware for some time of their criminal activities, two recent events, namely the Northern Bank robbery and particularly the vicious, brutal and savage murder of Robert McCartney have become wake-up calls for every true democrat on this island, North and South. This was a callous, calculated and brutal killing carried out with the brutal viciousness and efficiency that only psychopaths can command. That was followed, as Deputy Kenny has already said by the gruesome exercise, in the presence of over 70 customers, of forensically cleansing the scene of the crime and threatening anyone who dared to speak with a similar fate.

A number of people have expressed surprise to me that over 70 ordinary people would not come forward and tell the story of what happened. The ordinary people of Northern Ireland can differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad, as well as the rest of us. They are no different. They are good living people and they try to do their best. When one is subject in one's community to jackboot tactics by vigilantes and members of Sinn Féin, one will think twice before coming forward.

Another example of this phenomenon is the funeral of the much lamented Jean McConville. When her remains was found after 30 years her funeral went through Nationalist Belfast. The people there would have wanted to show respect to a neighbour and a mother who was brutally murdered but they were intimidated and terrorised. They were told to keep their doors closed, their blinds drawn and not to show any sympathy. That is the extent of the intimidation that is going on there.

The first response of the Provisional IRA after this murder was, as Deputy Kenny stated, to deny any involvement or association. Through pressure from the sisters of the victim and the media they eventually expelled three of their members. We have to salute and recognise the bravery of the sisters and the fiancée of Robert McCartney. Only for their courage, his death would be buried like so many others who suffered the same fate at the hands of the IRA down through the years.

The family want their brother's killers to answer for their vicious crime in a court of law, not in an IRA kangaroo court. They want convictions in the courts of the land. That can only be achieved by making all the relevant information and evidence available to the police. This appears to be the stumbling block of the Provisional IRA and even of its spokespersons in this House. They have difficulty in stating that people should go to the police to tell them what they know so that those responsible can be charged.

These people do not want a police service in Northern Ireland; they want to police their own areas and retain the power and control they exercise over these communities. The Nationalist communities are subject to a reign of terror and intimidation even worse that what was exercised in the past in the pre-Patten era.

As the motion states, I urge people to come forward and tell the police what happened. The force is completely reformed. A member of the commission who came from the United States who was involved in the restructuring process of the RUC, stated that the PSNI is the most open, democratic and transparent police force in the world. No one should have any reservations about going forward and giving it information so that justice is done for Robert McCartney. As a Border Deputy, I urge people to come forward and do that.

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