Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Politics can sometimes be very silly. I wish unequivocally to compliment the Taoiseach, without any qualification. Years ago when some people asked me what was the most important quality voluntary organisations needed in lobbying I said "stamina". They asked what were the second and third qualities to which I again responded "stamina". I compliment the Taoiseach on his stamina in dealing with this issue. He deserves all our compliments. He has contributed something to the country that we and our children will appreciate.

I wish to add to the names of those who have been deservedly praised. My good friend, John Robb, educated many of us regarding the realities of two things, the first being Northern Ireland Protestant life, and the second the continued existence of a tiny but very real Northern Presbyterian republican tradition — non-violent, I hasten to add.

I support the Taoiseach in his statement that there was never any moral justification for the campaign. I have frequently asked, publicly and privately, those who supported violence in Northern Ireland how they felt morally superior to Martin Luther King and that they could do things in the name of injustice that he never felt morally justified. The same is true of Mahatma Gandhi. In the Taoiseach's presence, I say that the decision of a senior RTE journalist to use the names of Mr. Adams and Mahatma Gandhi together was a gross insult to the latter. There is a fundamental difference between them in that one man never organised, supported or participated in violence against anyone, while the other, unfortunately, took a different view.

Like everyone else, I accept the validity of the decommissioning, which was a sincere effort on the part of the IRA. I accept that there may well be stragglers. I accept the word of the witnesses and congratulate them on their work. I acknowledge that we are moving on and recognise that some people might have to wait a while to understand it. However, as I have said before, I will not accept people who feel free, politically and morally, to point the finger at all our inadequacies and everything that went wrong over the last 20 years, claiming superiority and being accorded a certain credibility in the media as the new radical party. Perhaps, over that time, we were a little distracted from other things because of a morally reprehensible campaign. Then they tell us that it is time we all looked forward. I am really tired of that; let us all look forward and leave history to be dealt with by historians, but let not some of us be told that we must look forward while others are entitled to pick over the bones of selected issues. Let us all move forward together; that is what I believe.

I look forward to the acceptance of policing and participation in policing structures by all players in Northern Ireland politics. I also look forward to an unequivocal acceptance that on this island there is only one group known as Óglaigh na hÉireann. I have often said in this House that there are not two Óglaigh na hÉireann groups, one capitalised. There is only one, and there is now a very valid question regarding others who claim the name. We accept that they have decommissioned their arms. They say that they are ending all their other activities. What are they doing? I would like someone from that movement to tell me. They do not exist any more. They are not around and say that they do not undertake any actions, so what are they doing?

I do not mean this in any negative way. It is part of the process of winning trust. I have a problem with a march in Dublin at which small children wear paramilitary uniforms and carry plastic weapons.