Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No more than anybody else here, I have not read the full report. However, I was briefed on it by Paul Maskey, one of our MPs, who went to London and had prepublication notice of the report. Let us not mess about with this. I commend to the Taoiseach and to every Teachta Dála here the book written by Frank Kitson which deals with counterinsurgency operations in some detail. To paraphrase him, he says the law should be a weapon to get rid of unwanted members of the public. He set up counter gangs. They set up the UDA and modernised the UVF. They imported weapons and worked with the old apartheid regime in South Africa and brought in a huge amount of weapons.

With respect, I find it remarkable to stand here and listen to the Tánaiste say that David Cameron has shown remarkable determination to get to the truth. He has done no such thing. He tore up an agreement - an agreement Sinn Féin did not concede to at the time, because it fell far short of what the Finucane family wanted. He tore up an agreement made with the Irish Government in Weston Park. The British Government will only face up to these issues if it has no other option. When Tony Blair was faced with the huge campaign on the issue of Bloody Sunday, he had no other option but an inquiry, particularly when he read the report put together in co-operation with people in Derry and the Irish Government of the day.

We cannot behave as a junior partner on this. The relationship between this part of the island and successive Governments with Britain has been that of junior partner to the British Government. I ask the Tánaiste, as I have consistently asked the Taoiseach, to launch a diplomatic initiative in the USA, in Europe, at the UN on the Finucane family case. It is not enough to say we support the family. We must take the case and develop a campaign, using the goodwill we have internationally and using our status as having the most successful peace process in modern times. I commend that approach to the Tánaiste.

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