Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter this evening. It is impossible not to mention the significance of this debate occurring on this date, 17 May 2011, the 37th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the first day of the British monarch's first visit to the State. The timing is highly insensitive, but that the visit has the potential to play a significant role in uncovering the truth has not been lost on the survivors and the bereaved.

We in Sinn Féin are for a new relationship between the people of Ireland and between the people of Ireland and Britain, a relationship based on equality and mutual respect. Legacy issues pertaining to the troubled shared history of these islands must not be forgotten or ignored. They must be dealt with in an honest, truthful and mature manner. It is of vital importance that the past is dealt with and a mechanism found which treats all victims equally and allows families of victims an avenue of acknowledgement, apology and, above all, truth.

The atrocities that occurred in Dublin and Monaghan on this day 37 years ago serve as a constant reminder of that troubled history. They led to the greatest loss of life in a single day in the recent conflict as 34 innocent people, including an unborn child, were murdered. Many more were maimed and injured mentally and physically. Families were robbed of loved ones. As a mother of three, I cannot imagine the heartache caused at hearing the news that one's child would not be coming home. Every life lost caused so much hurt. I have no doubt the families of the victims of these atrocities are as hurt today as they were 37 years ago.

The report exposed the refusal of the British authorities to co-operate with a commission of inquiry established by the Oireachtas. The sub-committee of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights stated:

[We are] left in no doubt that collusion between the British security forces and terrorists was behind many if not all of the atrocities that are considered in this report. We are horrified that persons who were employed by the British administration to preserve peace and to protect people were engaged in the creation of violence and the butchering of innocent victims.

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