Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

The Minister should not give them too much ammunition on that front. Let us have an honest, open and upfront debate. I am glad to hear the Minister say that ambiguity now is destructive. The ambiguity of the past was not always constructive. I am an optimist and believe it is good to have Sinn Féin involved in the democratic process, standing for election like everyone else in the constitutional tent but it does not come all the way in. It keeps one foot outside and one inside and there are times when we feel that it is making fools of us all. We must hold the line on this issue.

Let us remind ourselves of what happened in Adare; it was a post office robbery. To dress it up as anything more than criminal thuggery is more than ambiguity. An unarmed garda was shot and murdered and another almost killed. The continued public outrage is not surprising because it was an attack on the foundation of the State. Let us never forget what it was or dress it up as anything else. I am glad there is such a sense of public outrage at the notion that the killers of Garda Jerry McCabe would be released because it would be a step too far and would be giving away too much. The Taoiseach may have pushed out the boat a little to test the waters. One never knows what exactly he is up to, he is such a wily operator.