Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I welcome this opportunity to speak on issues which affected so many people north and south of the Border during the past 40 years. I, too, offer my sympathy to all those who lost loved ones or whose loved ones were maimed. I purposely decided not to name any individuals in this debate. As the Taoiseach stated last night, 3,700 people lost their lives by various means in the Troubles in the past 40 years and 40,000 suffered serious injury. That is the legacy we have to debate today.

I decry the fact that when names were mentioned the only Member of this House who lost his life in those Troubles was ignored. The former Deputy and Senator, Billy Fox, was a close personal friend of mine. He was shot in the back solely because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is part of the legacy of the Troubles. My party leader, Deputy Enda Kenny, and our spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, who has already spoken, deal with the legal and structural issues, not just today but over the years, in trying to get as much information as possible for those who have suffered as a result of bombing and murders from whatever source. Those in this House who accused me of not getting involved may have seen in the past 24 hours how the structures work. It is not the ordinary backbenchers but my party leader, Deputy Kenny, who leads the questions on issues like this, as does the parliamentary party leader of Sinn Féin, Deputy Ó Caoláin, and others, but I have been there to support every effort to bring forth information and inquiries where necessary.

Clearly, the issue of the Monaghan bombing has been close to my heart. Some of those murdered by the bomb were among my closest friends. Others maimed for life were similarly close. After my election to Dáil Éireann, I made it my business to contact as many as possible of the families who had suffered from that bomb and all but one made it clear to me that their main interest was in moving on with their lives rather than in getting involved in any public debate.

Since then, much of the debate during Taoiseach's question time has been led by my party leader not just on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, but on the Pat Finucane case and others and it is clear that there are still many questions to be answered. I encourage the Taoiseach — I was a little disappointed by his speech last night — and his Ministers to use their current close relationship with their counterparts in the UK to co-operate fully with the different inquiries.

For me, the main issue is that we move on and that we cement the peace process which, hopefully, will see an end to the times, which I remember as and which some seem to forget were nothing short of open war. In war, things happen of which nobody or no party can be proud. Only this morning I spoke to a young man who was travelling right behind an unmarked van when it blew up in front of him, murdering all those inside. If his mother had driven their vehicle up along the side of the van at the traffic lights, he certainly would not be here today. He was a close friend, in fact, a grandson, of one of those murdered in the Monaghan bomb.

I also clearly remember the Omagh bombing to which there are still no answers, even though it happened much more recently than the others. Many victims of the Omagh bomb have come to my office over the years in desperation to find answers.

The death of Mr. Paul Quinn is another tragic example of recent times and, unfortunately, we have learned only in the past few days that other young men are under threat. It is important to remember that while the work of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, as First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, rightly gets much good publicity, there are still serious intimidation and beatings which go virtually unpublished, together with other types of intimidation within both the hardline republican and loyalist areas. I know this from first-hand advice from friends living in both types of areas. While we must support in every way possible those who have suffered, our main object is to ensure it stops and never happens again.

I was in a house one night and said to the family that we must move on. I did not know at that time that the lady's brother was one of those murdered, shot in the back at his place of worship. There was no inquiry.

I, too, want to be associated with the sympathy expressed to those who died not only in the Monaghan bomb, but in Belturbet, Castleblaney and the other places. I live only a few miles from the Border and I knew many of the small farmers who died north of the Border. I knew many of the people from both sides of the religious and political divide who were murdered just because they were from the wrong religion or in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I urge the Taoiseach, as has been sought in the letter from Justice for the Forgotten, to ensure that access is given to all information relating to the atrocities that are being inquired into. It is vital, if there is to be true reconciliation, that these matters are dealt with in a proper fashion. Above all else, we must deal with the small number of those on both sides who want to continue to create trouble and are in the process of buying guns, bombs, etc. They must be brought to justice and stopped, once and for all.

See this speech in context