Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Like other Senators, I warmly support the Bill, which is part of the reconciliation between North and South within this island and between east and west. It is part of a wider reconciliation also and as Senator O'Donovan said, the EU 27 was formed to ensure we do not have further outbreaks of war like the First World War or Second World War.

The timing of this Bill is right. This is Holocaust week, commemorating the dreadful events of that time. These events were also commemorated in the Mansion House last Sunday and outside the Bundestag there is a massive memorial to the Holocaust. We are all coming to terms with what happened in the Second World War and this Bill takes the right direction. Senator Harte's father, Paddy, played a major role in the memorial to Irish soldiers at Messines, which reconciles the different traditions on this island. We had the successful visit of the Queen of England and her husband and co-operation was manifest at the Islandbridge ceremonies during the summer where the Army and veterans conducted services honouring the veterans. The same happens on Remembrance Day in St. Patrick's Cathedral. At that ceremony, I met people from west Cork whose sons had died recently in Afghanistan and met a man from Mayo whose brother had died in Afghanistan.

This connection has been strong and it was exercised in the service of freedom and democracy. The Minister is convincing that the original regulations were necessary. If all 42,000 members of the Defence Forces had left, the State would have been left unprotected. However, it is now time to lay that aside. The Bill is neatly phrased and states in section 2 that "we recognise we have been unduly harsh", "we apologise for the treatment" and "it occurred in special circumstances". It provides for exoneration in respect of the acts and immunity from prosecution. In section 4 it states that this "does not confer a right on any person" or "create any cause of action" or "impose any liability on the State or on any person".

This is a fine piece of legislation in the spirit of the times. I would like to draw the attention to one slight issue. Page 4 of our briefing states there were 80,000 Irish soldiers in the Allied army in the Second World War, but the Minister's page 4 states there were 60,000. Perhaps the two historians will confer to decide which figure should be brought to the Dáil. This all refers to the past. In the present time, relations between the traditions on this island have never been better and improve daily. This Bill is another step in that direction.

There is a more serious dissertation, which is beautifully covered in the Tom Kettle poem dedicated to his daughter, as he suspected he would not survive too long in World War One. He wore the uniform of the British Army. He says:

You'll ask why I abandoned you, my own,
And the dear breast that was your baby's throne.

Why did he? He continues:

So here, while the mad guns curse overhead,
And tired men sigh, with mud for couch and floor,
Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead,
Died not for Flag, nor King, nor Emperor,
But for a dream, born in a herdsman's shed,
And for the Secret Scripture of the poor.

This is very moving. He knew he would never see his daughter again and that she would feel he had deserted her. His expression is so much more vital to the human condition than deserting countries and he was deeply moved to write this.

Francis Ledwidge too, who liked County Meath so much that when he got a job in Dublin he walked home to Slane one evening, fought in World War One. He said he joined the British Army "because she stood between Ireland and an enemy of civilization and I would not have her say that she defended us while we did nothing but pass resolutions". This is a reconciling part of this beautiful island and great country we share. Perhaps we should think of some way to celebrate the 100 veterans Senator O'Brien mentioned and cherish them as part of this great nation. I welcome the Minister's initiative and am sure he will have the support of all of the House.