Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his support and acknowledge the presence of the Fianna Fáil leader at the funeral of Mr. David Black. The Deputy referred to the claim of responsibility for this murder from a newly merged group of dissident republicans. According to news reports, responsibility for the murder of Mr Black has been claimed by a group of so-called dissidents comprising the Real IRA, Republican Action against Drugs and various other activists.

These groups have no public support and no identifiable ideology. Communities, North and South, have been united in their condemnation of this brutal attack. Those involved are criminal terrorists who are motivated by hate and have an inability to accept that the majority on this island want to move on and forge a better life. These criminal terrorists are stuck in the past that everyone else wants to leave behind. I assure the Deputy and the House that the Government is working closely with the British Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland, Mr. David Ford, the Garda and the PSNI to bring to justice those responsible for this killing.

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