Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think society now accepts that the convictions of the Guildford Four, Birmingham Six, Maguire Seven and Judith Ward were incorrect. That does not mean that the atrocities did not take place. It means that the convictions were not correct.

As the Minister of State said, the solicitor for Brendan McConville and the solicitor for John Paul Wootton have said they have real concerns for the safety of the conviction. That is what we are concerned about. Convictions can only happen in accordance with law and, if we want people to have confidence in the rule of law, we have to have people who believe there is justice before the law for all in an equal way. As I pointed out, it is interesting that this commission was set up primarily because of concern about Irish cases. Therefore, what we are looking for is not to influence the commission, but that it would deal with this matter expeditiously.

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