Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I would like to join with all those who condemned the unfortunate events that arose in O'Connell Street on Saturday. It brought shame to those involved and did nothing for the image of this part of the island where there was potential to do good, which I regret.

In regard to the march itself, I know from my contacts with people in Northern Ireland that people on both sides of the divide have suffered much hurt which will take a generation or generations to forget. I recall more than 20 years ago a very fine Unionist politician coming to New Ross for a twinning ceremony. Something he said remained with me. He asked that the pupils from the schools in the two towns should spend time with each other and stay in each other's homes so they would not make the mistakes we made. It said a lot about the whole history of the island. A short while afterwards, I discovered how hurt he was when a brother-in-law of his who was in the RUC was shot dead by the IRA.

There have been inquiries here into various instances where loyalists, and I have no doubt British security forces, were involved. We do not know how far up the political chain it went but people at reasonably high levels were implicated in these events. We are aware of the hurt felt 30 years later by the relatives of the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the people in Northern Ireland who were killed as a consequence of that collusion. It is right and proper that people from both sides of the divide are fully facilitated in expressing their anguish in order to bring some sort of closure to what has happened to them.

I join Senator Brady and other Senators in congratulating the gardaí on the restraint they showed under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Al McHugh, who is a fine police officer. They were correct in the approach they took. While there was some unjust criticism of what happened a few years ago on May Day, on this occasion their restraint beggared belief, for which they should be commended. I fully understand how the extent of the violence was not anticipated. Previously the gardaí had the use of water cannon and so on. This type of equipment should be sourced by the gardaí so that they can take effective action in such circumstances.

There are lessons to be learned from what happened on Saturday, one of which is whether to allow counter-protests in close proximity to sensitive marches. There are also lessons to be learned by the republican movement. We have had 30 years of violence and I have always felt that killing fellow Irishmen was never a route to achieving the objective of a united Ireland, which most people on this part of the island would share. If anything, it was counter-productive. We should have learned from this that there should be tolerance in society and we must take a much more pluralist approach to accepting divergence of opinion so that we can ultimately achieve an Ireland of which we can all be proud.

Unfortunately, the events on Saturday has handed a propaganda victory to the extremists on the other side of the political divide. It is regrettable that we may have missed an opportunity to influence people who may have travelled to the South for the first time to feel it is a country which is totally at variance with their viewpoint of one that was born and built out of prejudice and so on. This is an opportunity lost.

Republicanism and the unity of Ireland is a noble aspiration, but it must not be contaminated by thuggery or any kind of loutish behaviour. We must give it credibility and gain support for it. The Good Friday Agreement has brought a lot to this country. However, it is important to recognise that because it is a compromised agreement, it is not a perfect document. Therefore, we must allow those who see the peace as just a step to an ultimate objective to make their protest and voice their opinion, but it must be done in a peaceful and dignified way and within the law.