Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about something that is fresh in our memories. All of us will be aware of the high level of emotion, joy and relief felt by the families of the Hillsborough disaster recently when, finally, they got closure on the case of a cover-up by the South Yorkshire police, a case they had been fighting since 1989. Not only the community in Liverpool and Britain, but the whole world felt a sense of sadness, relief and joy - all manner of emotions - for that community when they finally got closure after such a long time. It is true to say that the same happened in Derry when the British Government issued an apology to the crowd at the Guildhall in Derry some 38 years after Bloody Sunday. These people have had to wait for long periods to get closure on issues that have deeply affected their lives and communities, in particular, their ability to be able to get on with their lives in a full, meaningful and healthy emotional way.

On the forty-second anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, it is crucial that a strong statement comes from the Houses of the Oireachtas. The motion is clearly supported across all parties. It is fairly innocuous in the sense that it shows support for the people who have done a great job in keeping this issue on the agenda over the years. Sometimes, I wonder how they keep doing it after all these years and how they stick with it. Many generations stick with it; it is not only the same individuals all the time. I admire them for it and believe it is important that they continue do so. The heart of the matter is that behind the cover-up of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings is years of deep co-operation between the State and nasty sectarian forces in Northern Ireland. What is referred to as the Troubles was marked by pockets of serious incidents, including killings and attempted killings, directly linked to this collusion.

Recently, I shared a platform with Bernadette Devlin, or Bernadette McAliskey, as she is now known, at the celebration of Gerry Carroll's victory in west Belfast for People Before Profit. She reminded us of the time she lay under her bed with 20 odd bullets in her body. She almost died in hospital at the time. That was clearly an incident of collusion between the British Government and loyalist paramilitaries, as was the murder of Pat Finucane and many others.

It is politically important for the families to pursue this issue. Obviously, it is personally important for those involved but politically and historically it is important to understand the nature of the northern state, the nature of British-Irish relations and to correct the historical record.

Justice for the Forgotten will continue to establish a mechanism that can persuade the British Government to provide the documentary evidence. I know that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, has recently reaffirmed his commitment to continue to call on the British Government to release the necessary documentation that can give closure and openness to this process.

Although the motion is good in its content and it has widespread support, we should really question our diplomatic methods. It is a little like the definition of insanity as the action of someone who keeps doing the same thing but expects a different result.

Perhaps when we pass this motion - not "if," but "when" - in this new Dáil, we should go at it in a different way. Instead of asking the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to call on the British Government to co-operate, we should raise the stakes. The Taoiseach, and perhaps even the President, should raise their voices and call on the British Government to deliver justice for the forgotten. This is important in a year when we have seen closure on a very sad period of history for people in Britain. It is now time for the British Government to give closure to people in this country on an extraordinarily sad and tragic time in their lives. As well as passing the motion, we should up the stakes. The Taoiseach and the President, Michael D. Higgins, should lend their voices, loud, clear and strong, to the British Government to give these people closure and open up the documents that are necessary to give us the truth of what happened on those days.

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