I am from a Northern Ireland family. My mother came from County Armagh and my father from County Down. I spent much of my youth in Northern Ireland with family and cousins. I grew up with a fear of the men with guns because we were not used to seeing guns in the South. Senator Jim Walsh mentioned the establishment of an unarmed Garda Síochána on the creation of the State, which was probably very difficult to consider in the 1920s. Those of us who grew up with a knowledge of the policemen with guns in the North were fearful of them and therefore a divide was created. Anything that brings us closer together must be of benefit.