Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The violence in Northern Ireland that overshadowed this country for nearly 30 years has left a long and harrowing legacy. That legacy is most acutely felt by the families of the 3,700 people killed in that violence in Northern Ireland. It is apparent that their killing continues to have a significant impact on the politics of Northern Ireland and this country.

It is important that we recognise that the dead of Northern Ireland are frequently referred to for the purpose of making a political point. That is perfectly legitimate. When unionists or loyalists refer to those who were killed by the Provisional IRA, they need to be listened to respectfully and carefully. Similarly, when republicans and nationalists refer to people who were killed by loyalist paramilitaries or the British state, they need to be listened to carefully and respectfully.

However, we need to recognise that there is an objective and purpose in trying to ensure that we can commemorate all 3,700 people who were killed during the Troubles in a way that is free from a political narrative. In many instances, the dead are being invoked for a particular political purpose. There is nothing wrong with that, but legacy issues have become part of the territory upon which political division in Northern Ireland now operates.

When we consider the 3,700 people who were killed during the Troubles, we can all recognise and accept that each of them deserves to be remembered.

When we go further and state why they need to be remembered, we can get into difficulty. Were we to say that each one of them died needlessly, that becomes an issue of political dispute. I believe, therefore, we can all agree that each one of the 3,700 people deserves to be remembered respectfully. We can also agree that collective memory will assist in reconciliation. We can see in Northern Ireland that, unfortunately, reconciliation has not been achieved to the level we would wish.

I tabled this Topical Issue matter because there is a monument to the 3,700 people who were killed in Northern Ireland, namely, a book called Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles, which was published for the first time in 1999 as a result of considerable work by five journalists, led by Mr. David McKittrick.

I read an article by Mr. Fintan O'Toole in The Irish Timesat the weekend and it is apparent now that this book may be going out of print. The suggestion put forward by Mr. O'Toole in his article, and it is a suggestion I agree with, is that this State, perhaps together with the Northern Ireland Executive, should seek to purchase the rights to that book. If we managed to purchase the rights to the book, we could make the information in that valuable tome available online to the public. That book is written without judgment, political objectivity or a narrative; it simply records the stories of the men, women and children who were killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Were the State in a position to purchase the rights to that book, I believe it would achieve something in trying to ensure we have some monument, that the voices of those who died would be recognised and that people could simply look to see who were these men, women and children who died during the violence in Northern Ireland. If, however, we let this pass and this book goes out of print, it is clear that it will be contentious and difficult for us to get any collective agreement between communities in Northern Ireland as to how we can put together one complete memorial for all the people who died. It will become too contentious. That is why I ask the Government to consider purchasing the rights to Lost Lives. It would not cost much money.

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