Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am going to take the Minister of State's reply in the positive. A decision has not been made not to proceed, therefore the door remains ajar. It is very important that the right decision is taken in this case. An appeal is imperative for those surviving ten of the 14 who were subjected to this grievous torture all those years ago.

I have known a small number of them over my many years of service as a public elected representative and I am very aware of the great hurt and harm done to them in their personal lives as a result of what they went through. I can say without any question about one of the four who have passed, in this instance many years ago, Seán McKenna, that his early demise was directly attributable to all that he was subjected to. Like me, Seán was a native of County Monaghan and he and his family have always been held in the highest regard, not only by the broader republican family in our county but by all within the community of north Monaghan, whence he came.

It is very important for the men and their families but also for Ireland because, as the Minister of State rightly said, there is a universal acceptance on all our parts irrespective of our political differences, that what these men were subjected to was torture by any measure or reckoning. It is absolutely essential that we take this further step to explore the recognition on the part of the European Court of Human Rights that it was indeed torture that these men were subjected to, and not the milder reference to "inhuman and degrading treatment". I make a final appeal to the Minister of State and to all in the Government today to decide to lodge that appeal before 20 June.

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