Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister for Defence, Deputy Alan Shatter, to the House.

The issue I raise is a very important one that affected west Donegal. The Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, will be familiar with the stories that come from that part of the country. This one scarred a whole community. It happened a very long time ago, well before my time, and was brought to my attention only in recent years. It relates to the Ballymanus mine disaster, one of the worst events that happened in this country during the Second World War. Last week marked the worst event in the history of the State, the bombing by the Germans of a part of Dublin in which more than 20 people lost their lives. In Ballymanus in west Donegal, 19 young men lost their lives. Their ages ranged from 14 to 34 years. Some came from the same household; one family lost three sons. Many of those killed were very young lads with their whole lives in front of them.

The incident happened on 10 May 1943. A mine came ashore at Ballymanus and a crowd gathered to watch it. As the mine came closer to the shore it is understood that some of the people present tried to throw a rope around it. Although the mine had been spotted earlier that day and reported to the gardaí at around 6.45 p.m. it did not explode until 10 p.m.

The reason I raise the matter is my belief that the families of those who lost their lives in the Ballymanus mine disaster deserve an apology or an acknowledgment from the State that it did not carry out its responsibilities in the way it should have. I understand there have been previous efforts with a previous Government to seek an apology. I realise the issue of compensation may be a stumbling block and therefore I ask the Minister to be open-minded and not merely to refer to the civil servants' script but to look for a way that protects the State but allows the families to put this issue behind them.

There are many documents relating to the period which clearly show that once a report was provided to the Garda that a mine was coming onshore it was the responsibility of gardaí to ensure the area was cordoned off. I have a report of an ard-cheannfort of the Garda that was sent to every Garda station and garda in the State. It states: "Whenever a report that an explosive article has been washed ashore is received at any Garda station the member-in-charge will immediately take such steps as are necessary to ensure that no one approaches to within 500 yards of the article and will at once report the matter to the nearest military post." I reiterate this mine was reported to the Garda three hours and fifteen minutes before the explosion but gardaí did not attend the site. The Secretary of the Department of Defence in 1943 stated in a report: "You will observe from the report that the instruction was not observed" - namely, the instruction to cordon off the area - "by the local gardaí in as much as they did not take any steps to prevent members of the public from approaching the mine."

I have another document, referred by officials to the Minister's predecessor, Gerard Boland, in 1943 which states: "The Chief Superintendent has expressed the opinion that the request for the inquiry was made as the outcome of hostility against the local sergeant who apparently has been unpopular in the area for a long time and who was, of course, guilty of grave neglect of duty in this matter." It is clear that such was the view of officials at the time and after the inquiry that took place.

The Minister may not be able to do so tonight because he has been provided with a speech by officials but will he state clearly that he will examine the issue of bringing closure to the relatives and families and the entire community of that area of west Donegal who suffered so much as a result of the war? I do not claim that the sergeant mentioned in the report caused the deaths - of course he did not. However, there was a clear instruction and he should have done something but did not. The Department of Defence clearly stated as much, as did the sergeant in later correspondence with investigators. This is an opportunity for the State to issue an apology to the families.

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