Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I find this debate very difficult because it reminds me of the horrors people have lived through for so many years in this country. I will start with the immediate case of Maíria Cahill and I call on Sinn Féin to stop the continuous intimidation of that woman through Twitter and other social media. That would be a start.

I am amazed, although I should not be, that senior people in Sinn Féin, like the normally forensic Deputy McDonald, have failed to address this issue adequately. I would like to mention something reported to me yesterday, namely, the reluctance of many women's organisations to come out very strongly on this issue. I urge them to do so.

I listened to Deputy McDonald and there is a series of questions Sinn Féin-IRA must answer, including the number of people involved in sexual offences which it has moved and where they are now. Are people in communities in Ireland, North or South, at risk because of people being moved? While Deputy McDonald and others in Sinn Féin have said it is the duty of people to come forward and report sexual abuse, there must be members of their party who know people who are guilty of sexual abuse or who have suspicions about people. It is their duty to report such people and to let the Garda or the PSNI carry out whatever investigations are required to establish the truth in these situations.

I find it very scary that a political party, with this question over it, stands together like glue, with all its members speaking with the same voice. It just does not ring true. People must have feelings about what is right and what is wrong in this situation.

All the constitutional parties in this State and others in Britain did a huge amount of work to help bring Sinn Féin away from the path of violence and sectarian intimidation towards democracy. Deputy Adams should not laugh. I know many Protestants in Northern Ireland who lived in terror for 30 years and while I may not have agreed with their political views, I agreed with their right to live. There is a smirk on your face. Imagine-----

See this speech in context