David Norris (Independent)

The Minister spoke on the wireless today about the events last night. He made a number of good points, particularly the fact that the Garda response was an administrative decision within the Garda and was not a direct ministerial responsibility. Although he accepts the ultimate responsibility, he did not trigger the decision. The response has to be proportionate. I saw part of what happened last night and, without taking sides, I believe people regret seeing gardaí in riot gear. The rights of Parliament must be protected but it was regrettable and I hope there will be a degree of proportion in future.

I applaud the Minister on his engaging frankness. It is not appropriate to play political games on this issue and he has been open in his disclosures. There has been a substantial social change during my lifetime for which neither the Government nor the Minister are responsible. It is something we will all have to tackle. There are elements of responsibility involved, but it is wrong to pretend that it is all the responsibility of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats.

Unprovoked assaults, which come out of nowhere, were unheard of some time ago. I have been a victim of such assaults on several occasions. The latest involved two young women who I think were probably as high as kites on drugs. One of them threw a cigarette packet on the ground and when I reproved them for this they went for me. What I did then was to swell up like a toad, pop my eyes and use my stentorian voice and they took to their heels. I took a chance, however, and I would not recommend doing so to anybody because if they had had a dirty syringe I could easily have had it stuck into me. Such unprovoked assaults are terrible.

Let us consider the case of Mr. Mulvaney, this decent young lad whose family has been left grieving. The two young people convicted yesterday included a Mr. Willoughby, a person who had some kind of seething rage with which his unfortunate mother could not deal. They did not know Mr. Mulvaney but Mr. Willoughby said, "There's a queer from Knocklyon, let's hammer him." The level of homophobia is appalling and it should be addressed in our schools and elsewhere.

The other aspect of the current situation, which was not a feature of my youth either, is the deliberate and calculated crime of hiring guns and gangsters. I recall an outpouring of sympathy for the woman and her two sons involved in recent events in Limerick, but they are blackguards and savages. When those two young men returned, the yahooing that went on from the massed blackguards down there was a disgrace. That is a pity because Limerick is a wonderful city and its people are marvellous. It has had such a boost since the Hunt Museum and the new university were opened. It should not be allowed to go down the drain because of these sort of people.