Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The documentary on RTE on Monday night was very welcome following the excellent exposé in the book Lethal Alliesby Anne Cadwallader. If the Minister has not read it, I strongly recommend that he do so. The documentary took the viewers through decades of systemic collusion between British State forces and agents of the British State. Reference has been made to republican organisations. There were some agents within those organisations but let us be very clear that the loyalist paramilitary organisations in some cases were reformed by the British State agents. They were controlled by them throughout the decades in question, they were armed by them, they were directed to people's houses, and they were used as a strategic part of the war against republicans, who were resisting their strategy in our country. That is why it is so vital that the Minister, on behalf of our Government, engage robustly with the British Government on the issues that were brought into the public domain last Monday night, but not for the first time.

I am particularly mindful of the case of Eddie Fullerton. The amount of intelligence involved in that assassination was remarkable. The failure by on Garda Síochána to investigate that matter properly and the lack of interest on the part of governments since then are truly remarkable. I will return to this matter in the next few days. I cannot think of any other jurisdiction in Europe where the assassination of a much-loved elected representative by state agents would be met with complete disinterest and apathy for so many years. I hope the documentary will remind the Government of its responsibilities in the case of Eddie Fullerton and all those others who lost their lives at the hands of the British State.

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