Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

This annual motion to extend the draconian measures in the Offences Against the State Act (Amendment) 1998 have been consistently opposed through the years, first by Socialist Party Deputies and now by the Anti-Austerity Alliance. This year, we will oppose it again. The measures were introduced in the wake of the Omagh bombing, which saw widespread shock and revulsion on the part of people on both sides of the Border and in all communities. This public opposition pressurised the Real IRA and other paramilitaries and forced them back.

The shock of the Omagh bombing and people's desire for an end to attacks such as these and justice for the victims was cynically exploited by the political establishment to erode democratic rights. Although the legislation was significant, it was rushed through the Dáil in one day. Incredibly, the text of the Bill was made available to Deputies only hours before it was voted on. The measures represent a serious attack on some of the key basic democratic principles in a bourgeois democracy. The right to trial by jury, the right to silence and the right to call witnesses in a trial are impinged on. There is also a lengthening of the time for which a person can be detained after arrest, a shift in the burden of proof and the provision that the mere opinion of a garda is to be treated as evidence. These offences add to the already draconian offences against the State legislation.

When the legislation was rushed through Parliament, we were told it was a necessary evil that was needed in order to combat paramilitary organisations. On publication of the legislation, the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, described the measures as draconian. The Minister who introduced the legislation, John O'Donoghue, described the Act as harsh during the debate. In 1998, the impression was given that this attack on civil liberties would be a temporary measure. However, each year we have been told that this harsh, draconian law is still needed due to threats posed by sectarian paramilitaries, criminal gangs or international terrorism.

The history of the Troubles is one in which the British State introduced measures such as internment and the Diplock courts, and repressive measures were also introduced in this State. We saw the deployment of troops and the militarisation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC. None of these measures ended the conflict. Neither were ceasefires by the paramilitaries brought about due to repressive legislation. As I alluded to earlier, regarding the pushing back of the real IRA and others in 1998, it was the opposition to sectarian conflict by working class communities, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, that pushed back the paramilitaries and prevented escalation into all-out conflict.

Draconian legislation is not the answer. It is counterproductive. Terrorism and crime are fuelled by a number of factors. Poverty, injustice, anger against discrimination and racism, outrage against imperialist wars, and alienation from the political establishment can be exploited to recruit young people and direct them down the reactionary dead ends of terrorism and crime. People should not trust the capitalist establishment with these laws. Attacks on democratic rights brought in under the guise of combatting terrorism and serious crime have been continually used as a weapon to clamp down on people's right to protest and against social movements.

An example of this is graphically seen in the US, where the Patriot Act has been used to cut across dissent and protest. In France, following last November's attacks, the state of emergency imposed by President Hollande was used to forbid protests and gatherings, including those of striking workers and social movements, such as Nuit Debout. In Belgium, anti-fascist demonstrations were forbidden following the attacks there in March. These draconian laws occur in the context of the generalised attack on democratic rights. The imposition of austerity measures against the will of the vast majority has seen democratically elected governments overturned and economic blackmail being used to push mass poverty on millions. In Ireland, the Garda and the courts have been used against the movement against water charges, with nearly 200 arrested for peacefully protesting against metering. We are opposed to repressive measures of this kind and we also call for the repeal of all of these repressive laws.

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