Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I also commend Mr. Mulvany, his colleagues, Senators Mooney and Brian Hayes, Mr. Andrew Mackinlay and the Minister on the efforts they made in this regard.

My father was in the British army during the First World War and I grew up with many of the survivors. If one saw what those survivors were like in later years one would have some idea of the trauma and suffering of the people who were there. We should concentrate on reinstating the reputation of these men. I do not believe they were shot because of a particularly anti-Irish bias. The people who would send 80,000 people to their death in the morning thought little of shooting one or two the following morning. I recently finished reading a biography of Sir Henry Wilson and that can be seen running through it.

This was a time when there was no conception of shell-shock, except for officers who were sent to Craig Lockhart hospital, and no idea about post-traumatic stress. There was a brutal approach to man-management and there is no doubt these people were shot, as Senator Norris stated, pour encourager les autres. They were the victims of a flawed process involving an extremely dodgy court martial system and a review that was not a review in most cases but simply an endorsement on the grounds that people could not be seen to weaken at any time. We should continue to press for a full pardon for these people. I commend the Minister on that. I also support the idea of some recognition by way of a memorial.