Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I commend to the House the thoughtful, considered and balanced contribution by the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Brady, to the discussion of the current difficulties in the North. It was an exercise in church statesmanship and we look forward to other church leaders coming forward with similar thoughtful contributions.

With regard to the matter raised by Senator Brian Hayes, everybody was disgusted by the killing of Detective Garda McCabe. The Fianna Fáil Party in Opposition made it clear that the killers would not be covered by any agreement. They were not covered by the Good Friday Agreement and, whenever they are released, it will not be under the terms of that Agreement like everybody else who falls into that category. They were explicitly excluded from it.

They have now served almost eight years so "early release" is not really the appropriate term to use. I have great respect for what the colleague of Detective Garda McCabe, who was shot and seriously wounded, had to say on the subject in an interview recently. The peace process and agreement in the North has a moral purpose. If all we want to do is moralise, we might as well not have started with the peace process in the first place.