Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann

—fully supports the family of the late Joseph Rafferty in its quest for justice;

—condemns any intimidation of the family and calls for it to cease immediately;

—notes that the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and other parties present in this House met representatives of the family;

—notes the ongoing intensive Garda investigation into the murder;

—expresses the hope that the investigation will soon be successfully concluded and the persons responsible for the murder will be brought to justice;

—calls on everyone with any information relating to the investigation to co-operate with the Garda Síochána;

—welcomes the fact that the Government raised the murder of Joseph Rafferty with the leadership of Sinn Féin at its meeting on 23 September 2005;

—and calls on everyone, but particularly on Sinn Féin, who has any awareness of or contact with persons who might be in a position to assist the Garda investigation to use their influence to that effect.

It is a matter of considerable progress that this motion has been agreed in the names of the Fianna Fáil, the Progressive Democrats, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Independent Senators. It is crucial that the message to emerge from the House during this two hour debate is that all Senators and political parties represented in the House are at one with the Rafferty family in its quest for justice for its murdered brother. It is significant that Senators have agreed to table a joint motion in the names of all party leaders.

Over the past three weeks members of the Rafferty family have met the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the leader of the Fine Gael Party, Deputy Kenny, the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Rabbitte, and other politicians to highlight their campaign to ensure they get justice for their murdered brother. I welcome members of the family, who are seated in the public gallery, to the House. They have shown remarkable courage in the face of intimidation and abuse from the republican movement since the murder of their brother in April this year and deserve our respect and support. I also welcome the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and thank him and his officials for facilitating agreement on the motion.

The campaign of the Rafferty family has one objective and one mission statement. It seeks to secure justice for its brother, an innocent man who was murdered in April this year. I pay tribute to its campaigning zeal and forbearance. I also congratulate Councillor Gary Keegan of the Fianna Fáil Party on his diligence in constantly raising this issue which recently acquired prominence on Dublin City Council, a proper forum in which to raise it. I acknowledge CouncillorKeegan's contribution and the manner in which he has represented his community and supported the Rafferty family.

Joseph Rafferty had no involvement in crime. Just after his murder the republican movement in the south inner city put out a dirty slur that he was a drug dealer. He never had any involvement in crime or drugs and was an honest, hard-working 29 year old man who had set up his own business in recent years, owned his own property and was a good father to his four year old daughter whom he provided with a home. He was murdered in cold blood on 12 April as he left his home. The only crime he committed was to get in the way of Sinn Féin-IRA which did not like the fact that a personal altercation took place. I am not suggesting that the army council took a corporate decision to murder Mr. Rafferty but the fact remains that one individual took it upon himself to murder him simply because he got in the way of the kind of intimidation that these people mete out on a daily and monthly basis.

Initially, Sinn Féin stated it had no involvement in the crime and that remains the position of Mr. Adams and the leadership of his party. There is, however, a history in this regard. In recent years, the party has consistently denied involvement when the IRA or an out of control IRA activist murdered an individual. Its first response to the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was to deny involvement until it became clear that those prosecuted for the crime were activists who belonged to the republican movement. Sinn Féin also denied any involvement in a recent case before the Special Criminal Court which involved individuals who took part in surveillance of elected Members of the Oireachtas. They were found guilty in a court of law on charges connected with membership of a proscribed organisation and surveillance of elected officials. I understand the latest demand from Mr. Adams and Deputy Ó Caoláin is that the individuals in question should be released from prison, even though they were convicted in the Special Criminal Court of serious offences in the recent past.

Sinn Féin also denied involvement in the murder of Mr. Robert McCartney in Belfast, which the party described as a bar room brawl until it became abundantly clear that Sinn Féin-IRA activists were responsible. In all of these cases, Sinn Féin has lied, as it has lied in the case of Mr. Rafferty, to save its bacon and used the cloak of ordinary politics as a means of explaining that it had no involvement. It did not wash in the past and does not wash now. They have a direct responsibility to ensure those responsible for this horrendous crime against Joseph Rafferty in April are brought to justice.

The family of Joseph Rafferty went to the local Sinn Féin councillor on three occasions outlining to him the intimidation and threats being made against his life and asked that representative to do everything in his power to ensure he would not be a victim of violence. This has become the subject of much controversy between the local Sinn Féin councillor and the family in recent months. Last night on television news the councillor in question said he did not speak to anyone at all when the matter was first raised with him in spite of his claiming that he could assure the family there was no republican involvement in the case. If he did not speak to any third party, how could he assume there was no republican involvement?

It is important to state that the Rafferty family was badly let down by this councillor, who looked the other way when they came looking for help concerning the intimidation of their brother. The same councillor continues to leaflet the community on this case despite the family asking him not to do so. It is late in the day for that councillor and Sinn Féin to cry over this case when for five months he and the party sat back and did nothing. When the specific intimidation claims were brought to Sinn Féin's attention, it did nothing.

It is inherent on all of us to expose republican gangsterism wherever it raises its ugly head. It is the responsibility of this House, the other House and the democratic parties that have served this State to say that we will not put up with this in the new post-Agreement Ireland. A small group of gangsters, and that is exactly what they are, feel that they have a right in some working class communities to act as judge and jury and as policemen; they are none of those and we must expose that fact. We must put pressure on the republican community to ensure prosecutions come from this case and also ensure that its involvement, whereby a known Sinn Féin-IRA activist was involved in the deliberate assassination of Joseph Rafferty, is recognised. If Mr. Adams, Mr. McGuinness and the Sinn Féin leadership would recognise that it would go a long way towards heeling the appalling pain that has been visited upon the Rafferty family since the murder in April.

With those words I open the debate. I look forward to the contributions and unequivocal support that will come for this motion given that it has been agreed by all groups.