Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I heard Margaret Irwin from Justice for the Forgotten give her view on this matter. She more or less expressed the same view as the Taoiseach on the different impressions victims and their advocacy groups have on these matters. Of course, there are many matters, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, where the British Government has been indicted but not come forward. There is no single voice across the victim community. Some want the truth and some a judicial process.

It is really important that we get to a point where we recognise there are different narratives. I am an Irish republican and I believe the partition of the island and British involvement in our affairs are at the core of this, but Unionists have a different view and Fine Gael may have a different view. All of these views and narratives have their own truth and we must get to a point where we lay the narratives side-by-side and respect them all. This does not mean the Taoiseach, Unionists or British Ministers have to change, but that we recognise somewhere in the totality of these narratives lies the truth. All of the different perspectives of what happened, who is responsible and what caused it are useful only if we can plot a way forward. Otherwise they become debilitating, negative and totally and absolutely frustrating, particularly for victims.

How do we encourage and set out such a debate? We must first of all recognise it is a crucial matter. The Government is not a junior partner, but a co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and other agreements. It has responsibility to look after everyone in the North, including our Unionist neighbours, and to plot a course forward, in the way described by the Taoiseach, in dealing with the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister, Dr. Haass and others. I thank the Taoiseach for his answer but I would like to see him facilitate here in the Dáil the type of joined up inclusive thoughtful discussion aimed at unshackling us from the past so it never repeats itself and aimed at forging a more hopeful future for the people who have survived the conflict and for our children and grandchildren.

See this speech in context