Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

The Minister challenged me and my colleagues when he said that he would accept this amendment if we said X, Y and Z. That is a disgraceful statement. If he thinks he can blackmail me to say what he wants, he has another thing coming. I could come in here and ask the Minister if the events at Abbeylara constituted murder or if the killing of Tom Smith in Portlaoise jail was murder. What about the brutality against Colm Maguire, who died in the Dundrum mental hospital as a result of treatment in Portlaoise Prison? His body was cremated so there would be no further autopsies. I could nitpick many issues from the conflict but I will not go down that road. We have the Good Friday Agreement, St. Andrews Agreement and the Hillsborough accord, all of which were achieved through negotiation.

I know several people who had members of their family killed in very questionable circumstances but in the interests of peace and justice, I am prepared to accept people from every side in order to move forward. Deputy Stagg sits in this House but the Government buried his brother in ten feet of concrete. I remember it as if it was yesterday, as his body was hijacked at Shannon Airport and buried in concrete against the wishes of many members of his family.

The Minister has indicated that he would accept the amendment if we said X, Y or Z. It is a very shallow argument if the Minister is prepared to make that throwaway remark across the floor. Things happened in war that are very hard to stand over. There were issues with how the State dealt with republican prisoners in inhuman and degrading ways. We are moving forward to bring about a lasting peace in this country for the first time and I am very honoured to be part of a movement that worked on this, along with elected representatives from the Government of the South, the British and American Governments and people of good will throughout the world. If we all kept nitpicking, we would be absolutely nowhere. There would be no Good Friday Agreement, St. Andrews Agreement or Hillsborough accord. There was enough nitpicking at the time but we had to overcome it, put it behind us and move on.

That is the challenge for all of us and the challenge for the Minister is on the merit of the argument for the amendment. Is the Minister prepared to accept the amendment? That is what the Minister has to tell this House.

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