Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I thank the House for allowing me to say a few words. I do not propose to speak for long. Like our spokesperson, I regret that it is necessary to renew this resolution but I have no doubt it is necessary. The Minister of State has set out in some detail why that is so and, indeed, active use has been made of the legislation in the past 12 months.

The days immediately following the Omagh bombing, on 15 August 1998, were among some of the most terrible times in the Troubles. This legislation was a key part of the Government's response to try to stop the continuation of such activity. To date, it has been very effective. I wish to second the warm congratulations that have been offered to the Garda Síochána whose members have managed, so far, to get on top of this threat, which cannot be discounted.

It is a great pity that, virtually without a scintilla of public support, dissident organisations still attempt to carry out acts of terrorism from time to time. The ideology of the people concerned — the Real IRA and an associated body, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee— is riddled with fallacies which have been pointed out publicly. History is moving away from such people who are on the wrong side of history. What inspires their ideology belongs to the past, not the future.

As Senator Jim Walsh said, those of us who want to see a united Ireland seek that outcome on the basis of peace and dialogue. It will be achieved by different methods than those that have been attempted in the past. Despite the setbacks that have occurred over the past six months, I would have some hope that we are moving towards a situation where paramilitarism — certainly in its main manifestations — is going to dry up. We would all warmly welcome that.

It is good to see dialogue going on all around. The fact that the Taoiseach met the DUP leader, Ian Paisley, and his colleagues, is far more important than any disobliging comment that may have been made afterwards.

We must also not lose sight of the fact that paramilitary activity is continuing on the loyalist side. I noted in Daily Ireland yesterday that the east Belfast office of an Ulster-Scots organisation was raided by the PSNI, and that it was managed by a leading loyalist. According to the newspaper report, the searches were carried out by detectives investigating serious crime, just days after UDA people had been arrested and charged with money laundering.

A former chairman of the Ulster-Scots Agency, who is a member of the House of Lords, has been remarkably zealous in many public statements expressing concern about the methods that we are using to bring all paramilitarism to an end, in so far as it lies within our power to do so. I hope, therefore, that Lord Laird will show the same zeal in asking questions about money provided by both Governments to what is a bona fide and worthwhile organisation — the Ulster-Scots Agency — to ensure that none of it has been in some way diverted or used for paramilitary purposes. Since this relates to an agency which Lord Laird headed up until recently, he is uniquely well placed to pursue that matter with the vigour that is characteristic of all his interventions.

I would like to echo what Senator Jim Walsh said about the unsatisfactory nature of the response to past investigations concerning the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and, in particular, the Finucane inquiry. The British Government will have to do better because these matters will not go away.