Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It is right that Members of the Seanad should have the chance to air their views on matters that go to the heart of events on this island over recent decades. The legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland is something which will be with us for some time to come. The painful memories of lives needlessly lost or ruined will continue to linger. The prospect of lasting peace which followed the Good Friday Agreement and the restoration of the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland should raise in all of us the hope, indeed the expectation, that no new victims will be created.

It is especially important for those individuals and their families directly affected by the atrocities examined by Mr. Justice Barron that this House should have the opportunity to have its voice heard on the reports from the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. It is also important to reflect on the legacy of 30 years of conflict. As the Taoiseach stated during statements in the Dáil, this process is not only about the past, it is about the future also.

The positive political developments in Northern Ireland in recent years, especially the restoration last year of the devolved institutions, have given us a glimpse of what can be achieved. However, to move forward into that better future we need to examine and seek to understand, while in no way seeking to minimise or explain away, the violence which occurred on this island over the past several decades. Statements in this House today, taken together with those in the Dáil last month, are part of that continuing process.

Senators will know that the Good Friday Agreement acknowledged the need to address the suffering of victims and recognised their right to remember that suffering. There can be no hierarchy when it comes to the pain felt by those deprived of a loved one as a result of this conflict. No one group has a monopoly on grief. There is, however, a particular sense of injustice felt by those who have been robbed of that loved one following the wilful collusion of those charged with protecting them.

One of the first significant attempts to address our shared legacy in the context of claims of collusion arose from the Weston Park agreement of 2001. Senators will recall that both the Irish and British Governments committed themselves to appointing a person of international standing to examine six cases that have been the source of concern about possible collusion by State security forces on either side of the Border. The resultant collusion inquiry process, led by retired Canadian Supreme Court judge, Peter Cory, recommended public inquiries into all four cases involving concerns about collusion in the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Pat Finucane, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright. Senators will have heard the Taoiseach call, once again, for an inquiry into the death of Pat Finucane to be established, as recommended by Judge Cory.

Judge Cory also recommended a public inquiry into one of the two cases involving concerns about collusion in this jurisdiction, namely, the murder of RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan in a Provisional IRA ambush in 1989. Whatever the merits of aspects of the British response to Judge Cory's recommendations, I am pleased to note the response in this jurisdiction was to accept the need for an inquiry into the murder of the two RUC officers. A tribunal of inquiry established into the murders is proceeding under the chairmanship of Judge Peter Smithwick, the retired President of the District Court. Having been in an investigative mode for some time now, I understand the tribunal will commence public hearings during the course of this year. I consider that the establishment of this tribunal — the most extensive form of statutory inquiry available — demonstrates that the Government will not flinch from shining a light into potentially murky corners of our past, as and when merited.

I am sure Senators will join me in paying tribute to Mr. Justice Henry Barron and his predecessor, the late Mr. Justice Liam Hamilton, for their services as head of the independent commission of inquiry. That commission produced four substantial reports into a range of terrorist atrocities perpetrated against citizens and individuals in this State. In preparing these reports, it goes without saying that the Barron inquiry received the full co-operation of all relevant Departments and the Garda Síochána in its investigations. The Barron reports and the corresponding reports of the Oireachtas sub-committees which examined them privately and in public hearings are now a matter of public record. I will not, therefore, reiterate their findings and recommendations here. I would, however, like to make some specific points in relation to the reports.

In the case of the random, brutal and senseless sectarian murder of Seamus Ludlow in 1976, in accordance with the recommendations of the sub-committee, the Garda Síochána continues to be actively engaged in a re-examination of the case, in co-operation with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Historical Enquiries Team. As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I have met the families of the victims of some of these murders to hear first hand their concerns and share with them developments in their cases. I am conscious of the deep loss still felt by them, even after the passage of so many years. Given the lapse of time, expectations should not be raised in an unrealistic fashion about the potential outcome of any Garda re-examinations, but I hope this demonstrates that the Barren reports are not gathering dust on a shelf. The findings of these reports and the associated recommendations of the Oireachtas sub-committee have been and are being taken on board.

Senators will recall that the reports made criticisms of various State agencies, including Departments — my own included — and the Garda Síochána. Sometimes these criticisms were severe and stinging, and rightly so. On occasion, more could and should have been done in response to the attacks themselves and in support of the victims and their families. We have learned those lessons, and the State and the Garda Síochána are in a better position to respond to incidents. It may be little comfort to those bereaved by past events, but Ireland now boasts best practices in many of the areas where deficiencies were identified. Most of all, successive Governments have worked hard to ensure that the cycle of violence in Northern Ireland is broken, so that we never again need find ourselves in the position of looking back on the dead and wounded of decades past.

I wish to turn to the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles, and the focus of the first Barron report, namely, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974, which claimed the lives of 33 persons. The Oireachtas sub-committee examination of this report identified a number of matters with regard to the resulting Garda investigation, as well as other issues requiring clarification. In response, the Taoiseach established a commission of investigation, the first time such a form of statutory inquiry was established under the 2004 legislation, to examine these matters and report on them.

In respect of the Garda investigation into the bombings in 1974, the commission's final report, published in March 2007, concluded that appropriate decisions were taken by experienced Garda officers at the time. Moreover, the suggestion that the Garda investigation was wound down because of alleged collusion was rejected. This finding, although obvious in my view, is nevertheless welcome.

I previously mentioned it is correct and proper that deficiencies in the State's response to the handling of these terrorist attacks are recognised so that lessons can be learned for the future. However, it is worth making the point that where the perpetrators of the attacks have not been made amenable for their crimes, it would be wrong that the focus of blame and criticism should be turned on those individuals and agencies who sought to defend life and property, in difficult circumstances and during troubled times.

In this regard, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, it is right that I place on the record of this House, on behalf of successive Governments, our appreciation of how members of An Garda Síochána through the years stood by this State against the threats it faced, sometimes at great personal cost.

Having said all this, while the terrorist attacks might be decades old, the legacy of hurt and pain, both physical and emotional, continues to this day for the victims of these attacks and for the families of those lost and injured. For these people, the attacks are a present, not a past, reality, and I wholeheartedly acknowledge this. As I previously mentioned, in meeting with a number of these relatives I have seen it for myself.

I do not intend to refer in detail to one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles, namely the Omagh bomb. Allegations of Garda failings were made about the period leading up to the bombing. These allegations were rejected by the Nally report, an edited version of which was published by my predecessor.

Senators are no doubt aware of the civil action being pursued by families of some of the victims of Omagh. I understand that in recent days, the judge in this action has indicated his intention to issue a letter of request setting out the nature of the assistance being sought from the appropriate Irish authorities. All possible support, within the legal framework in which we must operate, will be forthcoming. Senators should also bear in mind that criminal proceedings with regard to one individual's alleged involvement in this bombing continue in this jurisdiction.

The State has endeavoured and continues to endeavour to assist victims of the Troubles. In some cases, the simple acknowledgement of their loss can provide comfort to victims and their families. Financial and other support is also necessary and the Government has taken steps to provide this. Arising from the recommendations of the report of the Victim's Commission, the Government approved in 2003 the establishment of the Remembrance Commission with an associated remembrance fund of up to €9 million.

The Remembrance Commission was charged with the responsibility of administering the scheme of acknowledgement, remembrance and assistance for victims in this jurisdiction of the Northern Ireland conflict, and I know it has helped numerous families and individuals in recent years. The commission has made payments to the families of persons killed as acknowledgement for their loss; to spouses and children on the basis of economic hardship; to persons unable to work due to incapacity; to persons displaced from Northern Ireland due to the conflict; and for medical bills. It has also funded memorials to remember the victims whose precious lives were lost during this period, including most recently memorials commemorating the Belturbet bombing and the Miami Showband attack.

Although the Remembrance Commission was due to wind up in 2006, the Government extended its duration to October 2008 to ensure that all eligible persons have the opportunity to benefit from the scheme. As of the end of 2007, approximately €6.2 million has been provided and more than 420 applications have been made to the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund.

Some families of victims also have the added injustice of not having been afforded the dignity of being able to bury their loved ones. I cannot think of anything more likely to prolong grieving than not being able to bury the remains of a family member. As a further practical measure to support the families of victims, in 1999 the two Governments established the independent commission for the location of victims' remains. Its remit is to receive information from paramilitary organisations which could lead to the discovery of the remains of victims in those few cases where remains have never been recovered.

In 1999 and 2000, on the basis of information supplied to the commission by the Provisional IRA and following extensive excavation work carried out by the Garda Síochána, three bodies were recovered and returned to their families for burial. A fourth, that of Ms Jean McConville, was discovered by accident soon afterwards. Subsequently, in August 2006, the two Governments agreed that in the absence of any further breakthroughs on the basis of information received, the commission should adopt a more proactive approach to its mandate. This has included contracting the services of a forensic specialist and carrying out full, non-invasive surveys of all suspected gravesites.

Mindful of the heartache experienced on occasions when the families' hopes have been raised and then dashed, the commission's policy, supported by the Government, is that physical excavation of possible gravesites is now only undertaken if and where the commission assesses a good prospect exists of successful recovery of remains. The commission maintains extremely close liaison with members of the families of these victims to ensure that their expectations are not unduly raised. The work of the commission continues to enjoy the full support of both Governments.

All the matters I have touched upon today relate to various facets of how to come to terms with a past which is, in many cases, still raw and for many acutely painful. This is not a simple question. The very fact we are bringing these matters into the open and discussing them is in some small way a part of the healing process.

In his remarks to the Dáil, the Taoiseach welcomed the establishment in Northern Ireland of the consultative group on dealing with the past, co-chaired by Denis Bradley and Archbishop Robin Eames, whom he met in November. The group has been charged with seeking views from across the community in Northern Ireland on the best way to deal with the legacy of the past. This is a difficult undertaking, but a necessary one, and one to which we await the outcome with interest. As the Taoiseach stated, the group will no doubt learn much from the work that has been undertaken by Judge Barron, by the Oireachtas sub-committee and by victims' groups in this jurisdiction.

I will conclude by reiterating the Government's view that the exercise of looking back critically on past events, in which we have engaged in over the past number of years, has been absolutely necessary. It may be a painful and difficult process, particularly for the victims and their families, but we owe it to them to do so with honesty and conviction.

The results of our investigations and inquiries can only ever constitute an element of the full picture of those events in the 1970s. To complete this picture, all Members of both Houses recognise that we need the unambiguous co-operation of the British Government. This is particularly the case in instances where real grounds for concern about collusion by members of the security forces in Northern Ireland have been clearly identified.

I wish to echo the Taoiseach's words that the suffering inflicted during the Troubles was endured by people from all backgrounds and traditions. The families of those who died know better than anyone that pain and despair do not distinguish on the basis of political conviction or religion or any other aspect of an individual human being. Wrongs were perpetrated throughout Ireland.

In seeking to progress politically we must confront frankly and honestly our shared past, and hold uppermost in our thoughts the ever-present pain of all the victims of this conflict. In remembering their pain we should be fortified in our determination that the people of this island should never suffer in this way again. The past year has seen enormous progress made towards this goal. Acknowledging and dealing with the past is and must remain a part of this progress. I hope today's proceedings in this House will further contribute to it.