Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom an rún uile-pháirtí seo a mholadh os comhair na Dála. I welcome the fact that, once again, all parties in the Dáil have agreed to a motion calling on the Government actively to seek the release of information held by the British Government relating to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the three related Barron reports. These include the inquiry into the bombing of Kay’s Tavern, Dundalk in which Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters were killed, and the murder of Seamus Ludlow. I also welcome the commitment in the new programme for Government to pursue the implementation of the Dáil motions calling on the British Government to do what is right.

However, achieving this will require more than rhetoric. This Government, like the last Fianna Fáil-led Government, is actually in breach of its obligations, particularly in the case of Seamus Ludlow. The Ludlow family have been compelled to take legal action to force the Government to act on the Barron recommendations following the failure of two Governments to do this. The Taoiseach acknowledges the work of the Barron Commission and today he declares that addressing the needs of victims and survivors is at the core of the Government's approach. Despite this, the Government refuses to act on Mr. Justice Barron's recommendations.

The Dublin-Monaghan bombings were catastrophic. Thirty-four citizens died, 27 of them in Dublin and seven in Monaghan. I extend my solidarity and sympathies to the victims and survivors of all those incidents covered by the Barron commission reports and to all those who lost their lives or who were injured in the course of the conflict. There can be no hierarchy and every one of them deserves justice and truth. I especially commend the Justice for the Forgotten campaign, the Pat Finucane Centre and Relatives for Justice on their hard work on behalf of victims, and I welcome the advocacy groups to the House today. They have our full support.

The British state has never been open or honest about the role its intelligence services played in Unionist death squads that engaged in the murder of innocent victims. However, it is now an accepted matter of fact that collusion was policy and administrative practice. This was also acknowledged by the sub-committee of the cross-party Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Women's Rights. Despite this, the British Government has consistently refused to co-operate. This is not only in respect of murders that occurred in this State but also those that occurred in the North. This is the 25th anniversary of the murder of Councillor Eddie Fullerton, who was a very good friend of mine. Again, I express my continued solidarity to his wife, Dinah, and their family. The British Government refuses to give information, which is in its possession, into the murder of Eddie. The Irish Government has been remiss in supporting the family in their quest for justice.

The British Government has also failed to establish the public inquiry, as agreed at Weston Park in 2001, into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. The British Government is also thwarting efforts by the Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland to hold legacy inquests. This is not just a passive British Government, this is an active policy to thwart efforts to get to the truth. This needs to be matched with positive outreach by the Irish Government. The refusal to fund legacy inquests or to fund investigations are all in clear breach of the Government's international human rights obligations. There are also efforts to block the families' access to files which are held in the public archives. The Government in London closes them down.

As a co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish Government must use all of its resources, all of its diplomatic services and its access to scores of international bodies, including the United Nations, to exert pressure on the British Government. In all honesty, I have no great hope that this motion will have any impact whatsoever on the British Government. Like those that have occurred before, this debate will be ignored. However, and I have said this many times to the Taoiseach and to previous taoisigh going back a long time, a consistent strategic engagement by the Government with the British Government and the use of the political media and international opportunities available to it can make a difference. For example, has the Government made arrangements for an initiative with the media in Britain on the back of this particular motion? Has that even been done? It is time for us to act, as the rhetoric which is often used when we debate these issues implies. We need action and not just rhetoric.

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