Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I thank my colleagues on both sides of the House who contributed to this debate. Some 21 colleagues, representing more than one third of the Members of the Seanad, contributed. It was an important statement that there would be unanimity in the position we would take on this motion. I was struck by many comments made.

If this case related to another party and if a member of or activist in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Labour Party was a prime suspect in a brutal murder case in Dublin, do Members not think that each of our parties would immediately disown that person? There probably would be a disciplinary executive meeting to establish the facts of the case. There would be automatic transfer of information to the gardaí, the prosecuting authorities. That is what would happen if the same situation existed in any of our parties, but that is what is not happening with the Sinn Féin leadership in terms of this brutal murder.

Senator Kett made one of the most telling contributions when he said it is crucial that whoever comes forward with the evidence required to bring a prosecution in this case, and that person or group of individuals will need considerable courage, that person or group will need protection. The Senator was right about that.

We should not forget the words of the High Court judge in the McCabe case; he said it was the worst form of intimidation of witnesses he had ever seen before a court. The reason the McCabe murder was turned into a manslaughter charge was because of the difficulty in getting witnesses to the court to give open evidence in that court. Despite all the smiles, sweet words and lovely press and photo opportunities, these people are capable of anything. What Sinn Féin-IRA want to do now is to wipe all this clean. It wants this campaign and the Rafferty family to go away. It hopes that this issue will not emerge next week, that no one else will raise it at another forum, that it will not be raised internationally and that it will get over this month or two, move on and forget about all the bad publicity associated with the Rafferty murder.

I want to tell its members that this case and the family will not go away. It is right that every Senator who spoke here tonight mentioned that there is a resolve here among all the democratic parties, the institutions of this State to ensure that justice is done for Joseph Rafferty and for his family. That is why it is crucial that this case does not go away and remains at the top of people's political agenda until such a time as a successful prosecution is brought to bear.

I was struck by the argument made by the Minister, namely, the notion that in this day and age a law abiding family must take a case of intimidation to a local politician in order that such a politician can adjudicate with some shadowy group in the background is anathema to the notion of a free society. The fact that people did not have the confidence to go to the gardaí in the first instance because of the intimidation they were suffering is another appalling indictment of the way in which some people in some working class communities feel that they act above and beyond the law and with impunity. As long as we accept that is going on, it is a total negation of our democratic responsibilities. That is why it is crucial that this campaign continues until we find a successful conclusion.

Senator O'Toole summed it up well when he said that at the end of the day, this is about one life, a young man who came into contact with the republican movement and a young man who is now dead. That is on what we must focus as we go forward; the vindication of that man's right to life and of his family's right to have justice. One of the worst tragedies a parent or parents can face, as in the case of Joseph Rafferty, is to bury one's son or daughter. It is something of which a mother never thinks when she gives birth or of which we never think when we have the joy of having children. We must do everything we can to ensure, in the words of Senator O'Toole, that the importance of that young man's life is not forgotten and that those who were responsible for this crime are brought before the courts.