Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I am pleased that all of us in this House can find common cause on this important issue and like Senator Brian Hayes, I pay tribute to the members of Joseph Rafferty's family, who are here today, and to councillor Gary Keegan who has done so much to help them in my constituency.

I welcome this opportunity to discuss the facts surrounding this horrendous murder. JosephRafferty, a young 29-year-old man, was brutally shot dead outside his home on the morning of 12 April last as he left for work. The Garda Síochána immediately launched a major murder investigation, with an incident room established in Lucan Garda station. This was a cold-blooded murder and, as I shall chronicle, it was a death foretold.

Senators will appreciate that I am, of necessity, somewhat circumscribed in what I can say about the progress of the Garda investigation and where — and to whom — it may lead. What I can say, however, is that the Garda authorities believe that suspicion for this crime points strongly to a disagreement between the deceased's family and another family, among the latter of whom are persons well known to be Sinn Féin activists.

The facts speak for themselves. As the lawyers would say, res ipsa loquitur. There is no doubt nor argument, for example, that in the weeks immediately before the brutal murder of Joseph Rafferty and as a consequence of the disagreement that existed between the families, explicit violent threats were made against members of the extended Rafferty family in which the name of the Provisional IRA was clearly invoked.

These threats had the chilling effect of putting that family in such fear and trepidation for its safety that members approached a local Sinn Féin city councillor in an attempt to get the threats lifted. That Sinn Féin local representative gave the family certain assurances, the burdens of which are now disputed between him and the family. The family are clear, however, and I accept their view, that he offered to help to get the threats by his associates lifted. He has an entirely different version of their dialogue. Sadly, as we know, despite this dialogue and the family's desperate efforts to save him, Joseph Rafferty was murdered.

It is also a fact that following the brutal murder members of the family once again approached Sinn Féin local representatives, this time to seek their help in bringing the perpetrators to justice. It is a further fact that members of the family were subjected to intimidation following the murder as they sought to illuminate the truth of what had happened and in their quest for justice for Joseph. It is also the case that the Sinn Féin councillor approached by the family publicly stated that he would co-operate with the Garda investigation. That co-operation, at least to date, has extended to providing no more than an uninformative, perfunctory written statement which has done nothing to progress the murder investigation by the gardaí.

While, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I have received important information on the murder from the Garda, I am not in a position to say too much about the Garda investigation. I do not want to say or do anything that might in any way prejudice the outcome and the objective of bringing the killer to justice. I can say, however, that a chief suspect in this case remains someone who would be regarded as a member of the IRA.

Whether or not IRA or Sinn Féin members were involved in the murder of Joseph Rafferty will ultimately be a matter for the Garda Síochána and the courts. One thing, however, is not in doubt. The family of the late Joseph Rafferty, like the families of countless victims of the IRA in the North, passionately believed that Sinn Féin public representatives had the ability to exert influence on the hard men in local communities ­ the hard men associated with the IRA and who have a reputation for dealing with so-called problems, usually at the end of a baseball bat. It is one of the enduring legacies of the so-called armed campaign of the IRA that it has placed whole communities in the North of Ireland in the thrall of these men, who swagger around their communities as if they are untouchable. I want to send a message to any member of the IRA in this jurisdiction who thinks he can emulate his Northern counterparts, to think again. There is only one police force and one system of justice in this Republic, and its members do not wear balaclavas as a badge of office.

It is important for me to acknowledge, however, that it is at this point at least the professional assessment of the Garda authorities that the killing of Joseph Rafferty was not, as Senator Brian Hayes concedes, an operation sanctioned by the Provisional IRA and that it was carried out without the tacit approval of the Provisional IRA. Senators know my track record on the Provisionals and know equally well that I count myself among the front ranks of their resolute opponents. I do not, therefore, say lightly what I have just said. I am as equally committed to upholding the truth as I am to defeating the criminal legacy of the paramilitaries, and the assessment — at least in as much as one can be made at this stage — is that the killing of this young man was not a sanctioned act of the Provisional IRA.

This Garda view has nothing to do with the recent, very positive events regarding decommissioning. I will say more on this important and happy subject later, but without a doubt, the report of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was extremely positive, and it potentially heralds a new dawn in the political landscape of the island. However, we should not and will not allow this development to overshadow the wrongs that remain, for they are many and serious.

There are very disturbing parallels between the killing of Joseph Rafferty and the killing of Robert McCartney in Belfast last January. That horrific act also was not a prior sanctioned murder by the IRA, but we all know the lengths to which members of that organisation went to cover up the awful deed and the attempts still going on to intimidate the family into silence. In the McCartney case, there is no doubt people, as well as those immediately responsible for the killing and the subsequent cover-up, have information that could prove extremely useful to the PSNI in bringing the perpetrators to justice. However, those same people either choose not to divulge the information in their possession or are afraid to make statements.

As Senator Brian Hayes stated, the reaction of the Provisional IRA to that murder should be remembered. It went from outright denial of any involvement to a private offer to the family to shoot those considered responsible who ranked among its number. It then put it on public record via a P. O'Neill press release. It is to the enduring credit of the McCartney sisters and Robert's grieving partner that they spurned out of hand that depraved and obscene offer from the IRA. The insistence by the McCartney family that justice can only be served through the machinery of the criminal justice system, including full co-operation with the PSNI, demonstrates the absolute necessity to uphold the rule of law in tackling vicious crime.

In the case of the murder of Joseph Rafferty, I am certain there are people in the Sinn Féin-Provisional IRA movement who possess information invaluable to the Garda investigation. However, they continue to remain silent, refuse to make signed statements or simply look the other way. If they do so out of a sense of loyalty, whether political or personal, then it is a perverted sense of loyalty that speaks volumes for the values of the organisation, political or military, which they support. There are others who are simply too frightened to cross the thugs who invoke the name of the IRA. No good can come from aiding and abetting the heinous crime of murder. To do so only further victimises the Rafferty family.

Like the family of Robert McCartney, the family of Joseph Rafferty deserve our praise and recognition for the courageous manner in which they have sought to honour the memory of this young man in the best means possible by seeking to secure justice for him in death, when it was not available before. To this end, they have launched a campaign for justice involving, among other fora, the national daily newspapers. In doing so, they have been instrumental in maintaining public focus on this case which could have easily slipped into obscurity.

This is despite the family being subject to blatant intimidation. Senators are doubly right, therefore, to condemn the intimidation directed at the family. I had the honour of meeting privately with some members of the Rafferty family in June last at their request. During this meeting a portrait of intimidation was painted which I found very frightening. To think this is happening in Dublin city and those involved believe they can do so with impunity is frightening. To counter these threats, the Garda authorities increased the level of foot and mobile patrols in the immediate vicinity. Moreover, two persons linked to the murder investigation are before the courts for offences that include elements of intimidation. TheRafferty family has received assistance from a support organisation dedicated specifically to the needs of the families of murder victims.

The Government is doing all in its power to promote the full and frank disclosure of any information, held by whomever, that could be of assistance to the Garda investigation. Last week at our meeting with the leadership of Sinn Féin, first the Taoiseach, and then I, specifically raised the murder of Joseph Rafferty. Does this very act not point to how far Sinn Féin has yet to progress before it can be regarded as a political party on a par with other parties represented in this Parliament? It should not be the stuff of ordinary politics that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform feel it is necessary to make clear to the Sinn Féin leadership that it is beyond doubt that the victim's family believed with good cause they were in fear of attack from persons associated with the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin but unfortunately it is. We stressed how family members went to Sinn Féin seeking assurances that intimidation and threats would be lifted and how, according to family members, they were given those assurances by a Sinn Féin local representative.

Notwithstanding this, the harsh and terrible reality is that Joseph Rafferty was murdered. I also made it clear to the Sinn Féin delegation that the family reported continuing threats and intimidation by people linked to the so-called republican movement. I went on to insist that Sinn Féin must use whatever influence it has in the community to ensure those associated with that organisation immediately end any form of intimidation of the Rafferty family and co-operate fully with the Garda investigation.

It must be borne in mind that the Rafferty family have informed me, and have made it known publicly, that prior to this they would have voted for Sinn Féin. The McCartney family were also in the same position. I am not making political hay but we have a long way to go if people must ask individual councillors to call off the hounds of war, even after disarmament. Yesterday the Taoiseach separately met with theRaffertys to support their ongoing campaign for justice. He has expressed his commitment to the case and undertook to provide whatever support he can to the family, in the expectation the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

A state of affairs in which any family would go to any public representative to ask persons whom they believe are associated with or influenced by that public representative, not to murder their loved one, is an appalling one. I did not create that situation nor did the Rafferty family. They are not pursuing some political agenda as it is clear that until recently they would have given their vote to the people who have let them down so badly.

What kind of society do we want? Are we prepared to live under the yoke of bullying, violence and intimidation as part of the ordinary life? Why should there be corners of north and south Dublin inner city where some people are condemned to live under the shadow of thuggery, violence and killing? There is no good reason for this. The people who can do most to bring about an end to this psychology and domination of local communities are the people who are closest politically to those who carry out these terrible acts. If one is a republican, as I claim to be, one cannot talk about societies in which one citizen walks down the street afraid of other citizens or in which one politician has associates who can or cannot be dissuaded from murdering or beating up other citizens' loved ones. This is anti-republican and a betrayal of the tricolour. It stands for everything republicanism is not. These people have nothing to with what Pearse did in 1916, Davis did in 1848 or Tone did in 1798. They are abusing and betraying the term "republic" to perpetrate a form of brown-shirted tyranny on communities with a view to dominating them.

I salute the Rafferty family for standing up to them. I pledge them every support I can possibly give them, consistent with the independent investigation and prosecution of offences by the organs of law appointed under our Constitution.