Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Will the Taoiseach please note that Question No. 13 in my name on contacts with the Government of the United States has nothing to do with the other questions in the group relating to the North and the peace process? Time restrains me but the Taoiseach must be conscious that a case arising from the so-called Stormontgate affair was withdrawn last week by the Northern Ireland Director of Public Prosecutions and the three men who had been facing charges have been deemed to be innocent of them. Does the Taoiseach recall that the political institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement were brought down as a result of those charges and the public presence of the PSNI at the Sinn Féin offices in Stormont at the time? Does he accept that the carrying out of that raid and the subsequent trial by media created a serious situation, from which we have all been trying to rebuild since, with all the difficulties of which the Taoiseach is aware?

Does the Taoiseach accept that it is imperative in light of this development that he put it to the British Prime Minister that he has a responsibility, collectively with the Taoiseach, to ensure we will not face similar contrived circumstances on the re-establishment of the institutions, designed and carried out by those who hold only ill will towards the outworking of the Good Friday Agreement and the potential of a real peace process on and between these islands?

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