Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I have had numerous opportunities in this House to welcome in general terms the legacy framework that was agreed between the British and Irish Governments and published in early September. There is an urgent need to enact legislation to give effect to the provisions outlined in the framework. Did the Taoiseach detect an urgency or a very strong commitment from the UK Prime Minister on the need to get this issue dealt with? Many families have waited for justice for decades and decades. We have to move on and get progress on the rights, the concerns and the grief that engulfs so many families of victims for many decades now. At the end of this month, we will mark the 53rd anniversary of the Belturbet bombing, which cost the lives of two young teenagers. We also have had significant dates in relation to commemorations, for example marking the terrible atrocities in Monaghan and Dublin in May 1974. There are so many atrocities for which nobody has been brought to justice. We cannot ever attach enough urgency to trying to deal, once and for all, with legacy issues.

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