Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I welcome the Minister. This is an important debate, particularly since we have had a few days to consider the events of last Saturday. A core issue, which was raised by other speakers, is the right of FAIR to march down O'Connell Street. Nobody in this House would deny it that right but some believe it should not have that right. That is a core issue for us and for our democracy and for the type of society to which we are committed. Everybody has spoken about a tolerant and diverse society but there is a solid view among some, which does not express itself often and which keeps fairly silent, that this organisation should not have come here last Saturday. That view is represented in sectarianism, racism and in an intolerance of diversity in Irish society. It is a view Members of this House would not share.

I echo what Senator O'Toole said. At what level have we, as politicians, educators, parents and communities, failed to bed down and inculcate the values of democracy, tolerance and diversity in this society? What was revealed last Saturday was frightening. We can say it was a small group of thugs and so on but it was organised and led. We know that element exists in every town in Ireland.

There are issues which have not been resolved. We do not have normality yet and we are some distance from a situation where FAIR or any group from the North can peacefully march down O'Connell Street. We do not know if that day will ever come but what can we do to work towards it? While it is important to condemn what happened last Saturday and learn lessons from it, we also need to be responsible for what we have not done. There is a level of complacency. We believed that because the Good Friday Agreement was passed by such a large majority, we had somehow reached a point of tolerance and diversity and that we had moved forward. We wanted to think we had moved forward but what happened last Saturday is evidence that, at some level, we have not, for which we need to take responsibility.

One of the most sickening scenes I saw on television was these thugs with the tricolour wrapped around them, which I saw around the time of the local elections in my town. This type of republicanism has turned into sectarianism, thuggery and violence, although I know the Minister has worked hard to reclaim republicanism for democracy, which is important for us to do. I am not sure a military parade on Easter Sunday will achieve that and I ask the Minister and the Government to listen to what Senator O'Toole said. We must look at the signals we are sending.

I refer to the Garda management of the event. I have read the briefing supplied and I am grateful for it. It looked as if the gardaí were not prepared for what happened last Saturday. A good friend of mine and her brother were in O'Connell Street last Saturday and they said they were afraid for the safety of the gardaí before the riot squad arrived. As Senator Minihan said, they adopted a soft cap approach. That is fine but the question must be asked as to whether they and our democracy were exposed. Lessons must be learned from this experience.