Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I very much thank the Tánaiste for committing to have a debate on the issue. I also remind him that I have called for some time for a wider debate on the past and on issues pertaining to the North. I look forward to such a debate.

I commend the Government also on fulfilling the commitment made at Weston Park to hold an inquiry into the killing of the two RUC officers. I commend Judge Smithwick and his staff, with whom I co-operated, on their diligence and hard work over eight years to produce the report. I do not need reminders from the Fianna Fáil leader that at the heart of this tribunal are two bereaved families. I have already said clearly that they were brave officers doing their duty, as they saw it, in the same way as the IRA volunteers saw themselves as doing their duty, as they saw it.

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