David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have listened with interest to the contributions from all Deputies to this debate. Their contributions reaffirm to the House the deep and lasting effects of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings even after 42 years. I also recognise the members of the families who are here with us today. These bombings were callous and unjustifiable acts of brutality against innocent and defenceless people. They were acts of violence that were offences not only against the victims, but against all right-thinking people. These were terrorist atrocities in the truest sense of that chilling phrase which, tragically, became all too familiar to us over the course of the Troubles. As contributors to the debate on this motion have stated, the families of those killed and injured have borne the grief of those terrible events and the resulting pain is still being felt by them. Their suffering has not gone away and the memory of their loved ones lives on with them.

As has been noted already, the late Mr. Justice Henry Barron carried out a detailed and painstaking inquiry into these awful events and, indeed, a number of other tragic atrocities that took place between 1972 and 1976 in which many other people lost their lives. The Barron report provided some of the answers that the families and the public had sought about the bombings. The subsequent hearings of the Oireachtas joint committee provided the families with a very important opportunity to have their voices heard and to tell their stories.

However, all of those families and, indeed, all of us still have some unanswered questions about what happened, why it happened and how it happened. The Government and this House have already clearly and unequivocally urged the British Government to allow access to its documents relevant to these events. The Taoiseach, as he has outlined, has raised this issue directly with the British Prime Minister. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has also consistently raised the issue with his counterpart, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and it will remain as a top priority agenda item to be discussed between them. I reassure the House that the Government will continue to press for a response. The priority attached to this issue is reflected in the clear commitment set out in the programme for Government. Dealing with the legacy of the violence of the troubles is not an easy task. There is, unfortunately, no simple formula of words or actions that can put right such grave wrongs that were suffered.

The Good Friday Agreement recognised the need for a particular acknowledgement of the position of victims, and in remembering the victims and their families we should be strengthened in our determination to construct a changed society in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. The Government is strongly committed to continuing to work in partnership with our colleagues in the British Government and in the Northern Ireland Executive to develop and establish effective ways to address the legacy of the Troubles. The Government is fully committed to implementation of those measures agreed in the Stormont House Agreement and I earnestly hope that they may provide opportunities for the families of victims to access further information.

As we make progress to a better future for all who share this island and those who live on the neighbouring island, we must not forget all of those who died in the violence of the Troubles, those who mourn them and those who were injured. This motion sends a message of continued strong solidarity to the families of those who were so tragically killed in Dublin and Monaghan and, indeed, to the families of all those who lost their lives. I thank the Deputies who contributed to the debate and I respect the sincerity of everyone who spoke with evident passion and feeling. I commend the motion to the House.

See this speech in context