Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Briefly, and I wish to come back to the Taoiseach's remarks, no one involved with Sinn Féin is engaged in the graffiti, the wall daubing or the perceived or real threats against anyone. This is extremely clear and I condemn these threats and everyone has stated more times than enough that people must be able to go about their business without any fear of any threat whatsoever. Moreover, for the information of Teachta Martin, the Haass proposals include the right of families to seek legal redress if they wish and Sinn Féin supports that concept. One must understand here that there are multiple narratives. In the same way as there are the Fine Gael, Labour Party and Fianna Fáil narratives, in more recent times there are the Sinn Féin and the republican narratives, as well as Unionist, British Army and IRA narratives. We would get some sense of our history were we willing to lay all those narratives side by side as opposed to undermining any of them. Moreover, for the record, no generation of the IRA had a mandate, not in 1916, not during the Tan war and not during the Civil War or since. However, every generation of the IRA had sufficient endorsement of enough people to continue, including in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s until thankfully, the war was brought to a close.

While the Uachtarán's visit to Britain was taking place, which I welcomed and in which Martin McGuinness also played a key role, I told the Taoiseach in this Chamber that we needed peace on the streets as well as the big houses and I repeat that point. I agree with the Taoiseach that all Taoisigh and all Governments have played their role in this ongoing peace process. I have acknowledged this and I commend them all. In response to my question, the Taoiseach replied that while he was given notice, he did not have the detail as to what Secretary of State Villiers was going to say but that perhaps someone in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade may have it. Was the Government given notice of my arrest? I ask the Taoiseach to revisit his response to my question on whether he was given notice about what the British Secretary of State was going to say because this, as well as the Taoiseach's response to it, shows where the Government is failing. I say this in the most fraternal and positive way possible, because I want this peace process to work and will do everything possible to make sure it does so. I ask the Taoiseach to reflect on what I have said. In addition, was the Government given notice of my arrest?

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