Shane Ross (Independent)

I was struck by the speech made by Senator Ó Murchú on the Order of Business. I was one of those who broke the rules of the House by applauding what he stated because I identified strongly with it. Perhaps the House finds that difficult to understand. His statement that his mother wore a poppy resonates with me. My parents also wore poppies when I was brought up. Perhaps they even sold them. They wear them to this day. When I entered this House in the 1980s, I suppose the views I expressed at the time were a product of that background to which Senator Ó Murchú referred. At that time I felt an outsider in the House and that those views were rejected and alien to the prevalent culture at the time. Indeed they were rejected and considered to be rather eccentric.

The Leader of the House is absolutely correct in her statements that this country's attitudes to Northern Ireland have moved on in the most encouraging way. The Leader stated that the Taoiseach's great flexibility and the fact that he does not carry any baggage are assets. I endorse that view. We can sit back and criticise the Taoiseach for many things. However, on the issue of Northern Ireland he has a permanent place in the history of Ireland. The reality is that whatever the setbacks, the situation improves by the day and the great tolerance the relative sides have of each other has improved immensely.

I am full of admiration for the outspokenness of Senator Brian Hayes on this issue on a consistent basis. There is little electoral advantage for many people here to speak out on Northern Ireland on whatever side. There is certainly no electoral advantage in taking the position which Senator Hayes has taken over a long period. It is courageous and the House should salute it. It is the stuff of leadership.

Having stated that, I wish to make some comments on the current situation in the five minutes available to me. It is all very well to be euphoric about the progress made, and we see it in the atmosphere of this House. However, I would be loath to see an army of a military dimension being substituted by an army of criminals. I do not state that in any sensationalist way. Both Governments have tended to underestimate the extent of the criminality, for obvious political reasons. We saw the reports coming through on the sensational raids which took place over the past few days. I would like to see an estimate of the extent of this particularly evil empire we just discovered. I do not believe it happened overnight. The IRA has run these rackets for many years. What appears to have happened is that while the IRA and Sinn Féin have run these rackets for many years——