Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I refer to the need for the bomb disposal unit to be brought back to Finner, County Donegal. I appreciate that the Minister of State is in the House. So far on in the peace process, the last thing anyone in the Border region or County Donegal wants to do is to seek more security. My call comes as a result of a number of specific incidents as well as the general situation. When Officer Steven Carroll was murdered along with two British soldiers earlier this year everything moved closer to home and when this happens people tend to focus on the danger that a small number of dissidents, who are very effective, can pose. On 11 September, a pipe bomb was found in Donegal. This was a viable device and while people were told at 7 a.m. about the device, it was not until midday that the bomb disposal unit arrived in Donegal from Athlone. We are glad the unit was there and that it defused the viable device but in respect of the economy of the area everything was closed for five hours while waiting for the unit.

Given the geographical area, the distance between Donegal town and Finner is very short and, had the bomb disposal unit been in Finner, the matter would have been dealt with much faster. The device was viable and, had it exploded, it would have been too late to wait for the bomb disposal unit. There could have been consequences to this.

I also want to consider what happened in the middle of September. The mayor of Donegal County Council, Councillor Brendan Byrne, received death threats because he sought a memorial to those murdered in Mullaghmore to be situated in Donegal, overlooking the location where the murders took place. At some times and in some countries, one could look at this as being only a death threat on a piece of paper but we cannot afford this luxury and we must take this seriously. It is wrong that we cannot move the peace process on by understanding that others in this country have different perspectives. We should learn to live with each other and with those who hold different perspectives.

A 600 lb bomb in South Armagh was found but had moved from South to North. As a person who drives frequently through the North and as someone who knows many people living in the North, I am concerned. Security is now as tight as it was many years ago. It was unusual for me to be asked for my driver's licence at a checkpoint late at night last week. I cannot remember the previous occasion on which I was asked for it. It is a very bad sign that we need to have the police out. I commend the police on being out but I do not commend the reasons police officers need to be. I would like to think that policing and justice will be devolved to the North soon and they will become issues that can be dealt with there. I like to think we will be in a position to get over the fact we have dissidents and that people will continue to provide information to police officers to ensure the dissidents are demobilised.

The Minister of State may not be aware we saw another side of the police service at the weekend which was much more what we want to see in this era of peace and tranquility to which we aspire. The Garda was involved in a GAA tournament in south Belfast with the PSNI, the London Metropolitan Police and the New York Police Department. The Garda team won on this occasion and it was great to see a Gaelic tournament in south Belfast with police forces from various jurisdictions attended by the Northern Ireland Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland. That Fachtna Murphy and the new police chief constable were there is what it should be about and where we should be at.

Unfortunately, I am raising this matter on the Adjournment because we are not at the stage we want to be and we need to consider returning the disposal unit to the heart of the area where it can reach more locations faster than being based in Athlone. If I was being honest I would like to think the Minister for Defence would consider the barracks at Letterkenny and Lifford which were closed recently. If the security threat is deemed to be as high as it seems to be, perhaps we should review the situation on the Border.