Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I compliment the Leader on the very impressive presentation he made here today. It does not come as any surprise because he is a man who has given excellent service to this House as a Senator in the past.

I hope to have an issue debated in the House if time can be found. It might even culminate in an agreed motion. All reasonable people at the current time welcome the new, improved relations between Ireland and Britain. It augurs exceptionally well for the future and something which happened recently has added to that. We have had the report on the inquiry into the murder of Ms Rosemary Nelson. It is a very harrowing report but it is good to be able to say that the family now regards itself as having been vindicated.

However, there is another group of people which is currently in limbo, namely the families affected by the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. We have discussed them here in the past and they have been examined by a committee. The Government has taken a position on the issue but I hope that, given the good relations which now exist between Ireland and Britain, we might be able to get out of the cul-de-sac on the issue. The cul-de-sac seems to have resulted from the fact that we are not getting co-operation from Britain in regard to files.

I will make a suggestion to the House and when there is a debate we might be able to get an agreed motion. I believe it would be possible to have a joint, low profile inquiry on which Britain and Ireland would co-operate. Senators who have met representatives of Justice for the Forgotten will know the terrible agony endured by those affected by the bombings, some of whom are very old.