Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I recently inquired about the Roger Casement artefacts, many of which were confiscated by the British in raids on his flat in 1914. These artefacts were never used in a subsequent court case and are not, therefore, part of the courts service and should be returned to his family. A volume of material relating to Ireland remains in the possession of the British. I ask the Taoiseach to request the British Prime Minister to have undertaken a trawl of the public records office, the courts service or its equivalent in Britain, and the British museum for material which was confiscated or stolen during various raids in Ireland, in particular during the modern period of the last century.

An example would be documents used in court cases against Eamon de Valera, the founder of Fianna Fáil and former Sinn Féin leader. It was said at the time that what was taken was seditious material. However, a number of documents taken when IRA volunteers or Sinn Féin members were arrested in the 1916-1923 period were not subsequently used and should be returned to the families concerned or to this State. Given our plans to roll out a commemoration of that period, these artefacts would be useful in terms of our preparations in this regard.

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