Dáil debates
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Topical Issue Debate
Northern Ireland Issues
1:10 pm
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important matter for discussion. Yesterday's report by the PSNI and MI5 on paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland contained serious findings that have profound repercussions for the island. Its basic conclusion that the Provisional IRA army council directs both the IRA and Sinn Féin strategy and that its members are engaged in serious criminality, particularly around the Border, is a direct threat to democracy on this island. The IRA has not gone away and it has not left the stage. Instead, the report states, it is writing the entire script. I refer also to the report's findings on other paramilitary groups. It states "All the main paramilitary groups operating during the period of the Troubles remain in existence: this includes the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Red Hand Commando (RHC), Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)". It is absolutely horrendous that these paramilitary groups remain in existence on our island 17 years after the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement by the overwhelming majority of the people on all of this island. North and South, we are left with a party that is actively controlled and directed by an armed criminal group. The nexus of money, intelligence gathering and community control is part of a poisonous political project.
I understand that the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, has extracted more than €28 million in ill-gotten gains from more than 50 IRA members since the ceasefire, as mentioned in the House today. A number of court cases are ongoing as CAB delves into a dark financial empire worth an estimated €500 million that generates €70 million per annum. This is a criminal conspiracy founded on racketeering, fuel laundering, cigarette smuggling and other illicit activities. Its direction and objective are political control. Its legacy is murder and fear stalking the Border. We know its calling cards, for example, the brutal murder of Paul Quinn, who had every bone in his body smashed by the IRA before a twisted code of omertaand community intimidation silenced his screams from ever being heard in the justice system. That bloody violence and grim control is the conspiracy's hallmark. Paramilitarism in any community and from whatever source can no longer be ignored or indulged. Paramilitarism manipulating and controlling a political party are nothing short of a direct threat to our democracy and the hard-earned and tested institutions of this State.
It is imperative that we renew and revitalise the hope and energy of the Good Friday Agreement. We are all aware of the major effort made by various Governments, organisations and parties to bring the Agreement about. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade should consider whether a fresh mandate for the Independent Monitoring Commission, IMC, is needed to keep paramilitarism under check until it withers away from the communities that it is sucking dry. We need fresh resources for the Garda to confront the rampant criminality in the Border region. In particular, I reiterate my calls for a cross-Border agency to get to grips with the challenge. Last March, I introduced legislation in the House regarding the establishment of a cross-Border agency, the remit of which would be to deal with this criminality.
Fianna Fáil believes in the Good Friday Agreement and its great potential for all of the island. We believe that we can work peacefully and openly towards reunifying this historic island. The spectre of armed gangs calling the shots in political parties and orchestrating a criminal empire is a fundamental threat to that ideal.
1:15 pm
Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I thank the Deputy for raising this important and pressing issue. The Minister regrets that he cannot be present for this debate but, as the House will understand, he is in Belfast attending the roundtable talks that are addressing the challenges posed by the continuing impact and legacy of paramilitarism.
The Minister agrees with the Deputy that the assessment of various paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland by the British Government as well as the Garda Commissioner's assessment of the status and profile of the Provisional IRA, both of which were published yesterday, make for sobering reading. The assessments raise issues that are of grave concern, issues such as the existence of illegal organisations and command structures, access to weaponry and widespread criminality. Every Deputy would agree that these have no place in our democracy. They never did.
The Taoiseach made the Government's position clear when he spoke in Cambridge last month. He stated that we needed clear lines, not blurred lines, between constitutional politics and criminality and that there could be no shared platforms or strategies, no shady grey areas between right and wrong. He made it clear that, 21 years after the IRA and loyalist ceasefires and ten years after decommissioning and the IRA announcement of a cessation of paramilitary activity, it was past time that paramilitarism should carry any capacity for threat.
It is important to note that the assessments conclude that these paramilitary organisations no longer represent a terrorist threat and that a threat is only posed by dissident groups that are the enemies of peace in Northern Ireland. The assessments none the less present a complex and challenging profile of the unacceptable residual activities of various groups in Northern Ireland that are damaging to communities and must be addressed. The issue of associated criminality and the involvement of those linked with paramilitary groups in organised crime is highlighted by the assessments. The Garda and the PSNI will continue working closely together to combat criminality in all its forms on both sides of the Border.
The British assessment and that of the Garda Commissioner underscore the critical importance of the ongoing talks process in Northern Ireland. A key element of these talks, in addition to the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement, is to address the impact and legacy of paramilitarism. It is hoped that complementary assessments will provide fresh momentum to the talks process.
The political reaction to the assessments has been calm and measured. The Northern Ireland parties have maturely acknowledged the challenges and seem intent on addressing them. The stance taken by the First Minister and the fact that the DUP has resumed its seats in the Northern Ireland Executive are to be particularly welcomed.
Twenty-one years after the first paramilitary ceasefires, the transition to a fully normalised society in Northern Ireland must be progressed. Therefore, the Government continues to encourage all parties to seize the opportunity of the talks and to redouble their efforts to bring an end to the remaining blight of paramilitarism in communities and agree outcomes that provide a lasting peace and political stability in Northern Ireland. This is nothing more than what the people of this island deserve. For his part, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to engage with all of the parties in Northern Ireland in order to address these issues and preserve the peace and stability that has been so hard won.
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I wish the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and all participants in the Belfast talks every success in dealing with difficult issues that must be addressed.
I will cite parts of the Garda Síochána report to the Minister for Justice and Equality. It reads: "It was never the position of the IMC - nor has it been the position of An Garda Síochána - that PIRA had disbanded and, accordingly, ceased to exist." It also reads: "However, separately from the activities of dissident groups, there is clear evidence that a significant number of persons who have been associated with PIRA remain criminally active, particularly in organised crime, and continue to associate together." Elsewhere, it reads: "Like other persons involved in organised crime, some have access to weaponry." These statements in the Garda's report must be a source of concern for us all.
Many people on this island put a major effort into bringing about the Good Friday Agreement. Those of us who were privileged to campaign for its acceptance by the people in May 1998 were overjoyed that, in this State alone, more than 94% of those who voted endorsed it. That was a significant figure. Similarly, well in excess of 70% of those who voted in Northern Ireland endorsed the Agreement. We all recall the major block of Unionist opinion that campaigned against the Agreement and the lukewarm campaign, if it could be called that, on the part of some people who deemed themselves republicans. The people spoke, and the mandate that everyone on this island has is to work the Good Friday Agreement.
Major risks are posed when paramilitary organisations exist and weaponry is available to some paramilitaries, thugs, murderers and other criminals. People must face up to these questions. Smuggling, counterfeiting and cross-Border crime must be tackled in a determined and comprehensive manner. I welcomed the Taoiseach's indication to my party leader, Deputy Martin, this morning that he would give consideration to my proposal on a cross-Border agency that had a focus on tackling these issues.
I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, can bring that issue to the attention of his colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, to raise in the talks also.
As a next step to be taken urgently, we need politicians from all sides of the political divide in Northern Ireland to start being honest about the ongoing presence and role of paramilitaries. Paramilitaries from both traditions continue to exist. They must not be tolerated. Illegal groups must be gone for good on this island. Illegal activity must be faced down. The political system must face down paramilitarism and criminality. We have to see the potential of the Good Friday Agreement being realised for the benefit of all the people on this island.
1:25 pm
Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I thank the Deputy for what I believe has been a very useful debate. It has served to highlight the very worrying issue of the continuing impact and legacy of paramilitarism and to underscore the continuing efforts of this Government, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to address this issue as part of the ongoing round-table talks in Northern Ireland.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, together with the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, is in Belfast today and tomorrow to continue working with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the parties to reach a successful outcome to the current talks. This should include not only agreement on a way forward to tackle the impact and legacy of paramilitarism, but also agreement on the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement.
It is hoped that the British assessment, together with the Garda assessment, will provide fresh momentum to the current talks. The focus of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to be on ensuing an outcome to the talks that protects the Good Friday Agreement and the power-sharing institutions. He remains hopeful that with committed collective engagement by the parties and the support of both Governments, there can be a successful outcome to the talks in the next few weeks that agrees a way forward on the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and tackles, once and for all, the legacy of paramilitarism.