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

I thank the Minister of State for his considered and measured response. I also welcome the fact the Government is prepared to explore trying to purchase the rights of this book. This would be a beneficial step for this State to take. It is also important that we recognise it is asking much of the two communities in Northern Ireland to organise mutual reconciliation themselves. That is something any community would find extremely difficult to do. That is why it is so important that the Irish Government and, indeed, the British Government and Northern Ireland Executive play a part in this. Sometimes, when people can stand back from an issue a bit, it can be easier to try to look at it objectively to ensure we can try to achieve some fairness.

It is fair to say the book is not contentious. Most issues in Northern Ireland are contentious, particularly, when it comes to remembrance or in terms of legacy issues. This book sets out the detail of all those people who were killed during the Troubles. I agree with the Minister of State when he says the message that comes out of the violence in Northern Ireland can be summed up in two words: "Never again". We never need to ensure that because there is a division between Irish people, we must resort to violence. It is, however, imperative that we remember and recall it. That is why this book achieved so much, and bizarrely, when the book was started I do not believe the authors - the five journalists - had in mind this was going to be some great tome that would assume such reconciliatory significance. They simply wanted to record the people who died for the purpose of journalistic research. To date, however, in my opinion, it is the most effective way and method that exists of commemorating the people who died during the violence in a non-contentious way. I believe all the 3,700 people who died, and their families, deserve justice. We also need to recognise, however, that sometimes justice may not be attainable. What they certainly require, however, is truth. That is why I believe the stories of the lives of each of them who died should be recorded by this State and made available to the public at large.

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