Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome this debate. In particular, I welcome the consensus on all sides of this House on legacy issues in Northern Ireland and the New Decade, New Approach agreement. We all agree on rejecting the British Government proposals. Unilateral action on this most sensitive of issues is an impediment to reconciliation. Indeed, it is totally divisive. If we stand firm, which we do, and reject any of the possibilities of amnesties or statutes of limitations, that will be the way forward for us in the South and also for the North given that the Northern Assembly has also unanimously agreed that these proposals should not proceed.

The Stormont House Agreement sets out a comprehensive set of measures to deal with legacy issues in a way that can meet the legitimate needs and expectations of victims and survivors. It supports closure and reconciliation for those communities that have been most affected by the Troubles. These measures must be victim-centred and victim-focused. It is critical that the historical investigations unit, which is part of the Stormont House Agreement, is fully implemented and given the power and resources to investigate legacy events.

In Fine Gael, we stand with the victims and the families who have lost loved ones during the Troubles. They must have access to truth and justice. Regardless of whether the perpetrators were British soldiers, republicans or loyalists, these people must be brought to justice. I am the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. We have met many people in the North and South. Meeting representatives of the Wave Trauma Centre and the families of the disappeared, one feels, touches and understands the pain and hurt that is there on all sides. We met Maria Lynskey, whose uncle Joe Lynskey was disappeared by the IRA in August 1972 and whose body has never been recovered. We met Dympna Kerr and Oliver McVeigh and talked and listened to them. When we looked in their eyes we saw their pain and hurt because their family member, Columba McVeigh, has never been found. It is appalling and it is a shame. We have to try to bring closure to this.

Deputy Brady spoke about his county. I can speak about County Louth. I live on the Border. Of the often evil deeds that were done in my county, and there were many during that period, the murder of Tom Oliver was appalling, disgraceful and shameful. To abduct Jean McConville, a mother of 14 children, murder her and bury her in an unmarked grave was an appalling evil act. What has happened in our country is shocking and appalling. It is unacceptable that there should be an amnesty for anybody who was involved.

The British Government under its present leadership is divisive in its policies towards Ireland. It has clearly shown this through Brexit and the protocols, and by leaning to one side only in the North rather than seeking to bring us all forward into a new, brighter shared island, which is what this Government and Parliament want. I believe the previous Prime Ministers, Tony Blair and John Major, fully and truly understood how to solve the problems in our country, work with all sides and engage everyone on this island to bring about a peaceful reconciliation after what has gone on for hundreds of years. We need to have peace on our island. We need a new Assembly election and I hope we will have an administration up there that works because apart from the legacy issues, the key issues are the economy of our island, North and South. This is about education, fighting disadvantage, working together and building a future that we can all agree on, regardless of our past.

I am old enough to have been around on Bloody Sunday. I marched in a parade the following day in Dublin. I saw the hundreds of thousands of people who came because there were shocked and horrified by what had happened. On Sunday, I went to Derry where I met some of the relatives who are still looking for closure. They will never get it while Soldier F is free to roam and walk about as he will. We have to get justice for all of those people. I have been to Ballymurphy and I have met the families there. Most of all, I have listened to people in the Wave Trauma Centre. I have spoken to people who lost family members in the Shankill Road bombing. It just goes on and on. We can all iterate and talk about these things. This will go on unless the British Government listens to what we are all saying on this island. Let us have a fair and due process and let everybody get closure and get peace.

To the Sinn Féin Deputies over there, we need the bodies of the disappeared, the three bodies which have not yet been found, which you murdered and buried in unmarked graves. We need those bodies to be brought forward for decent, Christian burial. The fact is that somebody had to bring them there. Somebody out there knows all about it. The challenge for those in Sinn Féin, who wish to sit on this side of the House and be in government leadership, is that they must make sure the disappeared are found and given a decent, Christian burial.

See this speech in context