John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I wish to share in the condemnation of the murder of the two soldiers and the police officer in the north of Ireland. I am particularly cognisant that it has been those who brought us the atrocity of Omagh who have started this cycle of violence, which must be ended immediately. In discussing this issue, we must emphasise that a knee-jerk retaliatory reaction would only exacerbate the problem. These attacks represent a blight on the body politic, a blight which has a particular resonance for the Irish because it reminds us of the potato Famine of the mid-1800s and the terrible events that followed. What these gangster terrorists are attempting to do represents a similar attack on the body politic. However, there is no going back. Peace is the only way forward and these events will not deter any of us in our resolution to go forward.