Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Let me finish what I have to say. We need a truth commission because one of the problems is that in this State, the legacy of the conflict has not been addressed properly by those who are victims and those who carried out many of those actions which led to the death of people and which were absolutely and utterly wrong. That should never have happened. That includes actions such as Enniskillen and the killing of a mother of so many children. There is a number of these and I can give a list. Can we get the same type of response from the British Government and this State? The issue is not just about Ballyseedy and much was carried out by this State against people. There was the torture of people in Garda stations around the country and people were battered. Some people were jailed in the wrong and there has been persecution in this State as well. That is why we need a truth commission.

It should involve our side and that of the Government. There should be an acceptance that wrong was done and the heavy gangs should never have been set up and directed to brutalise republicans. There were consequences for families and views against the State were entrenched. That confirmed the history of republicanism versus the State since the foundation of the State. There is a significant history lesson to be learned and as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle said, this is not necessarily the place for it.

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