Seanad debates

Thursday, 16 June 2005

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion.

 

11:00 am

Photo of Jim WalshJim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I do not welcome the extension of these provisions, but I support them. It is unfortunate that circumstances do not allow for the discontinuation of the section. However, I fully support the arguments put forward by the Minister regarding their necessity. We all remember the Omagh bombing atrocity when 29 people were killed in an enormous loss of innocent civilian lives. It always struck me as peculiar, and I could never understand how certain people thought they could attain the unification of this country by killing fellow Irish people. It was a misplaced notion and unfortunately led to much anguish on both sides of the Border, particularly in Northern Ireland.

I am glad to hear of the excellent co-operation between the Garda Síochána and the PSNI. This is a positive force in combating further acts of this nature and is proving quite effective. It is a pity we do not get reciprocation for our co-operation with the British, particularly with regard to past crimes such as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings which caused the largest loss of life on the island during the Troubles and resulted in the deaths of 34 innocent civilians who were going about their daily lives in a normal manner. Despite the best efforts of the investigation inquiry set up by the Government and the work of a committee, very little, if any, co-operation was received from the British authorities. It was recognised by a number of committee members in their examination of the inquiry that there appeared to be PSNI co-operation up to a point but that was unfortunately thwarted by the Northern Ireland Office.

It is also regrettable that we must put such comments on the record of the House, but they need to be said because many people were bereaved and injured and feel quite aggrieved at the failure of legitimate, elected Governments to behave in a way that would conform with proper international standards in this regard. Unfortunately, we have very little evidence of that from our neighbouring island. I have been led to believe there may be further responses coming from those authorities in the near future and I hope there would be a change of heart, even belatedly, to ensure the information that is undoubtedly available in the records would be supplied. In this way, closure can be brought to these events and we can move to a different, newer and better level of co-operation in the genuine understanding that the past has been put to rest, rather than having lingering suspicions that we cannot even now trust neighbouring authorities.

The Minister of State has pointed out that certain sections will cease to operate from 30 June unless there is approval by the Houses to further extend them. That view is also confirmed by the Garda Síochána which is supportive and feels it is necessary that powers be extended. We must take account of this support. It was also good to highlight the number of near misses that have occurred. We had a debate here last night which was critical of small sections of the Garda Síochána, but we should recognise that the force has played a very courageous role in protecting citizens over the years. While there have been breaches, the Garda deserves our commendation and, in certain circumstances, members of the force have paid the ultimate price with their lives in the service of the State and the performance of their duties. We should never forget that and acknowledge their contribution.

A compelling point with regard to the extension of these powers is the continuing threat of international terrorism. Although there may be some lingering threats of ongoing Real and Continuity IRA activities, these have been fairly well contained through co-operation which is a credit to our security forces. However, the threat of international terrorism has defied containment by the most sophisticated of security systems. Apart from the atrocity of 11 September, we were recently reminded of the threat to Europe by the bombings in Madrid, when some 200 people lost their lives while commuting to work in the morning. We must forever be on our guard against people who do not in any way discriminate between innocent civilians and their own objectives. Therefore, the continuation of these strong and hopefully effective provisions is necessary. It is important to legislatively equip the forces of law and order to ensure they can effectively combat existing threats. Liberal elements would obviously argue that some of these provisions are very draconian, but they are necessary and people of liberal views would concur.

It is interesting to note that section 2, whereby a judge can draw inferences from the failure of an accused person to answer questions, has been used on 30 occasions. This has proved quite effective. The Minister has clearly outlined other instances where judges can take inferences from actions and associations of the accused and from the withholding of information. The Hederman committee was divided on section 10 with regard to the period of detention. It is essential when dealing with hardened terrorists, who have been trained in measures to avoid disclosing information, to give gardaí the powers to detain them for up to 72 hours with a judge's permission in order to obtain information vital to a successful prosecution.

There is probably no further need for me to comment on the provisions outlined by the Minister. Seven years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, those of us who cherish the achievement of a united Ireland would see lasting peace as a prerequisite in order to create a climate of greater co-operation and further mutual understanding between both sides of these islands. Some of the intemperate comments one hears from time to time are indicative of that. I hope those who aspire to that particular ideal realise it is only through dialogue, communication, co-operation and working together that we will create the climate where we can come closer in the interests of all the people we serve on the island. I hope the current discussions will lead to that end.

I remind the republican movement and all participants that we should not see the peace process as an end in itself. Sometimes that is the impression one gets from comments. The peace process is a step on the road to creating the island and the Ireland we all wish to have.

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