Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

It was suggested in the House of Commons yesterday that up to 20 republicans were involved in the killing of a young man, Paul Quinn, in Northern Ireland. It was also suggested that ten men in overalls and surgical gloves beat the young man to death and that the community was told not to give any information to the forces of law and order in the Republic and Northern Ireland. There have been similar killings, such as the Robert McCartney and Joe Rafferty ones, which have not been solved and, therefore, the murderers have not been brought to justice. It is time the republican movement decided whether it is supportive of the PSNI and Garda Síochána. Action would be better than some of the words we have heard uttered over the past couple of weeks.

It is also very serious that so-called dissident republicans are shooting off-duty members of the PSNI in Derry and Newry. It is probably time we had a debate on the situation in Northern Ireland. Let us hope the gun will be totally taken out of politics in Ireland. I welcome the declaration of a ceasefire by the UDA. Let us hope we can truly see peace and not have these hooligans killing people and attempting to kill members of the forces of law and order on this island.