Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá seacht gceist agam, but before I deal with the substance of what are very important questions, caithfidh mé a rá go dtarlaíonn sé uaireanta sa Teach seo go mbíonn muid ag caint faoi rudaí i rith Ceisteanna chun an Taoisigh a tharla cúpla mí níos luaithe. Inniu, mar shampla, baineann cuid de na ceisteanna le rudaí a tharla i mí Dheireadh Fómhair. We are now talking about matters which happened before the Stormont House Agreement was signed. Once again, there is a problem in terms of trying to resolve that.

I also wish to take the opportunity to congratulate my friend and comrade, Mr. Mitchel McLaughlin and his wife, Mary Lou, on Mitchel's appointment as Speaker of the Assembly. Mitchel was one of those who marched in the 1960s for civil rights. He was in Derry on Bloody Sunday. He has been an outstanding servant to people of all political persuasions and none and I am sure the Taoiseach will enjoy working with him. I also want to extend my best wishes to Mr. Willie Hay, who was an outstanding Speaker; he was very fair and a decent man.

I always try to figure out the best way to come at certain issues but Jonathan Powell, who was Tony Blair's chief of staff for much of the peace process recently acknowledged the contribution that British Government inattention made to the failure of politics and the emergence of conflict in the North. He said: "In the 1960s and for decades before, the British Government paid absolutely no attention to what was happening in Northern Ireland". He said that Catholic complainants were referred back to the Protestant authorities in Stormont and were pushed to one side. Powell argues that if the British had been sensible they would have insisted on fair access to housing, "which was what caused the civil rights movement", on fair employment laws, on power sharing and on an end to Unionist gerrymandering. The same things could be written about an Irish Government, including Fianna Fáil-led Governments, and I believe that we are still at that danger point.

I listened to the Fianna Fáil leader previously. I do not want to say anything that is offensive but a man was killed in this city the other evening. I do not know the man. God help him and his family; he was shot to death in his home. There is no talk about a vow of omertaacross the entire community in the place where that man was killed, but it is okay to say that about people in South Armagh - that the entire community has taken a vow of omerta. The Fianna Fáil leader talks about the killing of Paul Quinn---

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