Dáil debates

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Northern Ireland: Statements

 

2:00 pm

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, in extending my very best wishes to Mr. Robinson on his retirement, which will take effect fairly shortly. I also wish Dr. Alasdair McDonnell every good wish in the work he continues to do in Westminster on behalf of his constituents in south Belfast. He worked exceptionally hard over the years as an SDLP Assembly member and as a Member of Parliament, and I am sure that work will continue to benefit the people of Northern Ireland, particularly his constituents.

I note in the Minister's remarks a certain disappointment and frustration with the lack of progress on some of the issues. That was very evident in the replies he provided to parliamentary questions last night, particularly with regard to the literal going back on some of the progress made in dealing with legacy issues and the Stormont House Agreement of almost 12 months ago. There is also the need to deal with victims. Unfortunately, there is no fresh start for the people who have been injured and the families of victims and survivors, who have suffered enormously and continue to suffer. One comment brought to my attention came from Ms Sandra Peake of the cross-community victims' group Wave. She states "Where is the fresh start for the bilateral amputees, the blind, the paraplegic and the severely traumatised?". In fairness, the Minister's remarks and replies to the parliamentary questions I tabled indicated such frustration as well. Since progress has not been made in putting in place meaningful measures to address the real concerns and suffering of so many people, will the Minister, the British Government and the Executive parties in Northern Ireland consider some deadline for achieving a satisfactory outcome on those issues? It is only when deadlines are imminent that there seems to be progress on many of the major issues necessary to bring further political stability to Northern Ireland.

I welcome some aspects of this agreement, and I know the Minister, his colleague Deputy Sherlock and others have worked extremely hard to reach that agreement, as they did last year prior to the signing of the Stormont House Agreement on 23 December 2014. Other speakers have referred to the significant welfare cuts that will, unfortunately, come about and the major job losses in the public service. As co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, it is incumbent on the Irish Government to ensure that this latest deal is fully realised, as it is incumbent on the British Government to do the same. The series of issues that have been parked cannot go off the agenda. The Minister has indicated that he will have meetings this week on those issues and I hope he, with members of the British Government and the Executive parties, can provide some momentum and achieve what was impossible to realise in the recent agreement.

In any debate on Northern Ireland in this House, we should also refer to the very important work undertaken on an ongoing basis by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains.

I referred to that in a debate earlier this month when Columba McVeigh's family had a Mass offered for him in Carrickroe in County Monaghan in my constituency to celebrate what would have been his 60th birthday, had he not been murdered by thugs, criminals and murderers who masqueraded as republicans at that time. Exceptionally good work has been done by the commission and it is incumbent upon all of us who have an interest in trying to ensure the remaining bodies are recovered to continue to generate awareness among the public that if there is any information that might be of assistance in locating those remains, it should be given to the relevant authorities. Every day that goes by makes it more difficult to have a successful outcome to those searches. As a Parliament representing the people, we should appeal to people who have any scintilla of information, however irrelevant it might seem at this time, that could be useful in assisting the work of the commission to make it available to the authorities without further delay.

I also wish to speak, as I have consistently done over the years in this House, about the total non-response of the British Government to the unanimous motions passed here in May 2008 and in 2011 regarding the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the need for an eminent legal person to have access to the papers and files pertaining to them. We are all aware that in the period known as the Troubles, there were many days of terrible anguish, suffering and murder on this island caused by paramilitary groups, some masquerading as republicans and some masquerading as loyalists. Unfortunately, many people were murdered through the collusion of the British state forces as well. I think of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and of the bombing in Belturbet in my county in December 1972. Again, we have the British Government trotting out the lame excuse of national security considerations in regard to the details that might become available to the institutions that were proposed in the Stormont House Agreement 12 months ago. It is essential that the institutions and methods proposed in the Stormont House Agreement would be advanced and that the British Government would co-operate fully and not put a roadblock in the way of those institutions which could be so beneficial if they were established.

We are all aware that, unfortunately, in May 1974, 33 people were murdered in Dublin and Monaghan and nobody has been brought to justice. There have been many instances of nobody being brought to justice for horrific crimes. It is also important that we constantly remind ourselves of the very good work carried out by Anne Cadwallader in her publication Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, where she refers to 120 murders committed by loyalist paramilitaries and the clear evidence that some of them were armed from UDR depots. Only one person of those 120 had an association with a paramilitary group. One person was a member or was associated with the IRA at that time. The rest were all innocent people involved in the GAA, the SDLP and general community activities. They were murdered by loyalists and in many instances those loyalists were armed from UDR depots. It is appalling that no progress has been made in bringing about justice and having the thorough, necessary and genuine investigation into those murders.

With regard to the potential for cross-Border development and the development of the all-Ireland economy, that provision is made through the Good Friday Agreement. As I have said on a number of occasions in this House, the one mandate that all of us have as public representatives on this island, both North and South, is from the enactment of the Good Friday Agreement by the overwhelming majority of the people on both sides of the island in May 1998. Over 94% of people in our State voted in favour of the Good Friday Agreement and more than 72% of the electorate who cast their vote in Northern Ireland voted in favour of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It is a powerful mandate for democratic politics to implement the Good Friday Agreement to bring benefits to the people of all the island. We need development in regard to furthering the work of the existing all-Ireland bodies and we need new all-Ireland bodies to be established as well. There are huge areas for potential, whether in the delivery of health services, educational development or the provision of educational services.

One relatively small project in the scheme of public funding would be theNarrow Water Bridge project, which would unite two communities that have been divided in the past. We know the potential of that infrastructural development is enormous and it would bring huge benefits to the north east. It would also be a very important message to deliver together, that North and South can work together in creating new infrastructural development and delivering jobs for the people in the north east. We also need further progress as rapidly as possible on the A5 road development. Donegal, in particular, needs that infrastructure. It needs that link with our capital city. County Monaghan, part of my constituency, would also benefit from the development of the N2. They are all pieces of infrastructure that are needed and which, if put in place, would give a clear message that the all-Ireland dimension is beneficial for everybody on this island. It is not just about political assemblies or structures but also about delivering for the people through enhancing the infrastructure in their area, making their area more attractive for inward investment and the creation of much-needed employment and jobs in areas that traditionally have had difficulties due to the Troubles we had for many decades.

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