Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and his officials. It is greatly to his and his Department's credit, and that of his predecessor, that when serious problems self-evidently arose in the Garda Síochána, they did not attempt to sweep them under the carpet. They did not try to establish some type of whitewash tribunal that might evade the prospect of appalling vistas and so on. Instead, they tackled the problem head-on and are applying the lessons learned. I preface my contribution by observing that I have no sympathy whatsoever with a defeatist approach to the spread of drugs. That crime will probably last as long as humanity does not mean we must accept it as a fact.

I will focus the rest of my remarks on the Nally report, which I welcome for its clear conclusions. I have an interest to declare in this in that I was impugned in some of the allegations made by Detective Sergeant White. These allegations were brought to the attention of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, who issued a report on the matter. That report was given to the authorities in this jurisdiction, who instigated an inquiry. While I am a great admirer of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, I regret that credence was given to allegations in a way that has proved to this day deeply upsetting to the families of the Omagh bombing victims. More attention should have been paid to the motivation of those who sought recourse from the ombudsman's office.

After the successful ratification of the Good Friday Agreement in both parts of the island, problems persisted in regard to loyalism and Orange marches and the continued existence of three paramilitary dissident organisations on the republican side. Discussions were held with the INLA which moved towards a ceasefire. It had already decided to declare a ceasefire before the Omagh bombing. I had a meeting, which is on the record, with the political front of the Real IRA, the 32-County Sovereignty Committee, in early July, urging it to declare a ceasefire. It gave me a document of historical-cum-legal-cum-ideological arguments which was passed to the Attorney General's office. A reply was sent effectively at the end of July, a fortnight before the Omagh bomb went off, demolishing the case for continued struggle and for acceptance of the validity of the people's decision.

The Omagh bomb went off on 15 August 1998. I was in Donegal, having spoken at the Magill Summer School the previous night. I heard the news of the bomb at 5.20 p.m. on the radio while in Killybegs. I went home another way; the natural route would have been by Omagh. I remember explaining to the Taoiseach late that night that the State faced as large a threat as it had during the Emergency. Firm action was needed to prevent any repetition of the Omagh bomb and to give confidence, both North and South, in the State's determination to act. That was very important in the reactions of other people, including loyalists.

The then Government recalled the Dáil to pass draconian legislation which was to bring such paramilitary activities to an end quickly. Allegations were made by Detective Sergeant White, presumably on the basis that the best form of defence is attack and with the motive of discouraging the State from pursuing other matters against him by impugning the leadership of the Garda Síochána and a member of the Taoiseach's office. To suggest in some way or other that Fr. Reid, who had met some of those associated with the Real IRA in Dundalk, was on behalf of the Irish Government offering in exchange for a ceasefire that the Omagh bombers would not be pursued is false.

I spoke with complete frankness to the Nally inquiry. There is multiple documentary proof to show that at all times the then Government was determined to pursue the Omagh bombers and anyone involved in illegal acts that had occurred before that time. The only question, in the light of the legislation passed, was whether the State would proceed with a general round-up of everyone associated with the Real IRA, necessary as a preventative measure, to ensure nothing like Omagh occurred again. Alternatively, would the State focus only on those who had committed crimes? It was the expectation of and the demand from the Government that the Real IRA would disband at the end of 1998. Three months after a ceasefire had been called, I met some representatives of the Real IRA, which is on the record. Unfortunately, no such assurance could be given. I believe that was a great mistake and an act of folly on the part of those concerned. It is one reason several dozen people are sitting in Portlaoise Prison.

It is unfortunately the case that at least two dissident republican organisations are not on ceasefire. I do not wish to exaggerate but I believe they are a source of danger and disability in the process, especially taken in conjunction with those who may be disaffected within the mainstream organisation. I urge the Government and the authorities to continue to do all in their powers to close down those paramilitary organisations and their military activates. This remains an important priority.